Daniel johnston biography movie 2015
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In June 1996, Atlantic dropped Johnston from the label.[17]
In 1993, the Sound Exchange record store in Austin, Texas, commissioned Johnston to paint a mural of the Hi, How Are You? frog (also known as “Jeremiah the Innocent”) from the album’s cover.[23] After the record store closed in 2003, the building remained unoccupied until 2004 when the Mexican grill franchise Baja Fresh took ownership and decided that they would remove the wall that held the mural.
Although the plane was destroyed, Johnston and his father emerged with only minor injuries.
In 1988, Johnston moved to New York City to work on his album 1990 (1990) with producer Kramer. Even the way it was filmed and put together is so unique it was amazing to watch. Well made and worth a look.
9Hindinwood
One of my favorite documentaries ever
I had the opportunity to see this film several days ago while working at the American Film Market, and I have been telling everyone I know to see it.
That something heartbreakingly beautiful in it's simplicity and honestly can come from such a terrible struggle, is what makes this story and this film remarkable.
9chrissyresides
fantastic study of mental illness, and our desire to romanticise
I watched this knowing that I am not a big fan of the music of Daniel Johnston, but found it ceaselessly moving and fascinating.
His struggles with mental illness were the subject of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He died in 2019 of a suspected heart attack.[10]
Early life
Johnston was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in New Cumberland, West Virginia.[11] He was the youngest of five children of William Dale “Bill” Johnston (1922–2017) and Mabel Ruth Voyles Johnston (1923–2010).
Haldol is practically an elephant tranquilizer and patients on it often are somewhat zombie-like--and it's often given to violent and severely psychotic patients in emergency rooms.
Late in the film, there was an emphasis on Daniel's artwork--not just his music. The song encourages the listener to understand that vulnerability is the key to experiencing love, singing “only if you’re looking can it find you.” These uplifting lyrics are all the more sentimental behind Johnston’s unadulterated voice, but bring even more emotion when considering Johnston’s story.
Johnston played it during its development and liked it, although he was not familiar with the iPhone.[40]
Credits:
WikipediaThe Devil and Daniel Johnston
Videos1
8planktonrules
A fascinating look at mental illness
The first section of the film has to do with the early life of Daniel Johnston as well as his being discovered by the musical world in the 1980s.
The film was directed by Gabriel Sunday and executive produced by Lana Del Rey and Mac Miller. The film spans the life (up to the present) of this incredibly complex person, who truly resides in a world of his own creation. Normally, with a Bipolar Disorder, they would prescribe antidepressants or Lithium--not a severe mind-altering drug like Haldol.
He definitely is not nor ever has been "mainstream" and this section of the film was poor compared to the last 3/4 of the film. [26]
2000s
In 2004, Johnston released The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered, a two-disc compilation. While this can be difficult to watch (at least for me), there is the powerful reward of the music and drawings that Johnston has produced throughout, both in spite of and as a direct result of this struggle.
On the way back to West Virginia on a private two-seater plane piloted by his father Bill, Johnston had a manic psychotic episode; believing he was Casper the Friendly Ghost, Johnston removed the key from the plane’s ignition and threw it outside. The film is very well done, quite uplifting and entertaining, with a big love for the main character and at the same time a nice and unoffensive sense of humor.
He later attended the art program at Kent State University, East Liverpool, during which he recorded Songs of Pain and More Songs of Pain.[12]
Career
1980s–1990s
In 1984, Johnston took a job at McDonald’s and passed out tapes in the store.[7] When Johnston moved to Austin, Texas, he began to attract the attention of the local press and gained a following augmented in numbers by his habit of handing out tapes to people he met.[13] Live performances were well-attended and hotly anticipated.[14]
His local standing led to him being featured in a 1985 episode of the MTV program The Cutting Edge featuring performers from Austin’s “New Sincerity” music scene.[15]
In 1988, Johnston visited New York City and recorded 1990 with producer Mark Kramer[16] at his Noise New York studio.[11] It was Johnston’s first experience in a professional recording environment after a decade of releasing home-made cassette recordings.
I really thought this film would be a bog standard "worship the romantic tortured genius" thing, but it actually gave you a really authentic feeling of how terrifying and uncontrollable mental illness truly is. As I watched, I noticed that although the film mentions that Daniel had "Manic-Depressive Disorder" (i.e., Bipolar Disorder), there was compelling evidence that a more correct diagnosis might have been a Schizoaffective Disorder.
This earned him a niche following and established him as a well-known figure in Austin. He obtained the reputation of being a musical genius, misunderstood by the world around him.