The Devil and Daniel Johnston film review

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THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON

Welcome to the crazy world of Daniel Johnston: an artist, poet and singer who has gained a cult following over the last twenty years, despite not being able to actually play any of his instruments, or the fact that most of his output (particularly his music) focuses on his failed High School love affair. Jeff Feuerzeig's absorbing and frequently mindboggling documentary charts how this American oddball influenced the likes of Nirvana and Sonic Youth, despite having what is very much a naïve style and, sadly, suffering from serious mental issues.

The film tells its tale using much of Johnston's own source material: he recorded his life from a young age, and a wealth of video and audio archives shows just what a mixed-up kid he was. Despite the merest of ability (he just simply plods away on the piano and bangs the guitar, with little or no regard for apparent melody), his persistence paid off, and he was soon embraced as something of a wonderkid by the music community of Austin, Texas. When he managed to appear on MTV, record labels and managers began to take serious interest in him.

Regardless of whether or not Johnston actually has any real talent (the film doesn't even question this, with every talking head a fervent supporter), he certainly made a splash. Even today his childlike drawings (which have essentially been on the same subject for twenty years) sell all around the world. But the biography doesn't shy away from chronicling Johnston's sad and sometimes traumatic descent into mental illness.

Having been a prodigious, if different, kid, Johnston was simply unable to cope with adult life and the sudden fame he acquired. Drug use did not help, and by the early 90s he was in and out of psychiatric units. Now he lives with his aged parents, who look after every step of his life and career, but constantly worry about how their overweight, distant son will ever manage without them. In the current clips, Johnston seems to flit in and out of awareness of his situation, but still bangs away on the piano in his room, still writing the same song about the girl he loved and lost.