'Moonage Daydream': David Bowie documentary is 'more than a musical experience'

Watch: Moonage Daydream director praises profound impact of David Bowie

Moonage Daydream, the new David Bowie documentary directed by Brett Morgen (Cobain: Montage of Heck, Jane), takes a non-traditional approach to the life and philosophies of the late rock icon.

We all know the music, and his fans are aware of his story too. But what of his outlook on life? His infectious, blissful take on our mortality, or his inspiring, fascinating dive into the creative process?

This is what lays the foundations for Morgen to build upon in his new film who was left as profoundly affected by his subject as he hopes audiences will be.

Speaking to Yahoo, Morgen admits that despite being something of a disciple of Bowie, he was taken aback by the artist’s philosophies, which he absorbed in the year and a half following a near-death experience.

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“When I started working on the film, right at the beginning I had a heart attack and was in a coma for a week,” he said.

“Over the course of the next 18 months I starting ingesting Bowie into my veins and what I found most remarkable and unexpected was his philosophies, his appreciation for life and the way he put that to work.

"There was an opportunity to create something much more than a musical experience, something that could be life-affirming.”

Morgen also touched upon whether making this film, and hearing Bowie discuss the beauty of life, gave him any sense of closure on the artist’s death in 2016.

“From the very beginning, he realised how limited and precious our time on this Earth was, and was going to make the most of it.

"And I would reckon to say that having studied — and I do biographies for a living — I don’t know of any artist that I know of, who has taken advantage of what life has to offer more than David.”

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Moonage Daydream is an imaginative odyssey into Bowie’s life, and Morgen evidently took his lead, creatively, from his subject, which will make viewers excited about what this filmmaker will be working on next.

But such is the affect the musician had on this filmmaker, Morgen admits his next project will be something entirely different.

“The experience of doing Moonage Daydream and working with Bowie as a sort of muse, has led me to a position that I can no longer do archival films and I can no longer do music films,” he finished.

Moonage Daydream will release exclusively in IMAX on 16 September and wide in UK Cinemas from 23 September. Watch a trailer below.