20,000 Days on Earth (2014): 9/10
An ambitious pseudo-documentary that straddles a not-always obvious line between farce and history. That its subject is Nick Cave, who since the early 70s has been releasing some of the most confounding and bewitching music in the industry makes sense: this film brilliantly plays up to Cave's eclecticism, and he and a wide cast of collaborators are eager to play along. How often do you encounter a documentary with dream sequences? Or with voice-over narration provided by its subject, who may or may not have written it? Mingled into all of its delightful trickery are more straightforward moments, including a lot of electrifying (and insightful) footage of Cave and his cohorts in the studio, recording material for their 2013 album Push the Sky Away. Between the studio segments, Cave spends some time in his personal archives, monologuing at a therapist's, and traveling from place to place in the company of his thoughts and acquaintances who vanish just as mysteriously as they appear. I'm not sure how well this film would work for people who aren't fans of Cave, or who aren't already familiar with his history, as it makes no attempt at conventional biography. Indeed, you'll probably come out of it not knowing much more about Cave than you did going in--and if you did learn something new, you'd probably best take it with a grain of salt. What 20,000 Days' real aim seems to be is getting to the heart of Cave's creativity--what moves him to song? What inspires him? What 'transforms' him into the god-like state that he seeks out on the stage? The answers are all here, and it's a hell of a trip. Recommended, but with reservations. However, if you do wind up seeing it and you have little familiarity with Cave, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
