Tag: rock

directed by Oliver Stone

When the actors you remember from your childhood leave us, it makes their passing quite specific. Because I feel like it was yesterday – I was at my grandma’s place, having lunch and watching some American action film with Val Kilmer – still young, still very much alive. And suddenly, the man is gone and so are the good memories. Today, I’d like to share one important film, which was Val Kilmer’s important role, but also an interesting production, which I was not supposed to like. Why? Well… It’s a biographical drama about Jim Morrison (played by Val Kilmer), the lead vocalist of The Doors. To my younger readers – it’s a very popular rock band from the 60/70s, and I bet you must have heard their songs somewhere, because they are still appreciated worldwide. Personally, I’m a big fan of rock and heavy music, but… I’ve never liked listening to The Doors. To me their music was too strange and somehow unpleasant. And I guess it’s mostly because of the way their lead singer sang. So why the hell am I recommending you this film? Well, because I can separate my opinion about the band and my opinion about the film as a piece of art. And I do believe it’s a good production. I’ll start with Val Kilmer – he really was a fantastic choice for the role. Not only he looks very similar to Jim Morrison, but he put a lot of effort and hard work into creating his character on screen. He spent a lot of time practising Morrison’s way of speaking and singing, and even the actual band couldn’t recognise which recording was sang by Morrison and which by Kilmer. So in the film you can listen to the actor singing several songs and, in my opinion, it’s really difficult not to take it as the original version. Many critics were against the way Morrison had been presented in the film, but I believe his character wasn’t far from the truth. I know that sometimes it’s hard to accept the dark side of our idols, but the fact is that Morrison was a rebel, an artist, a musician, but also a person with incredible addiction problems. And that is why I appreciate how Oliver Stone, the director, decided to present his story. The whole film shows Morrison’s reality in a pretty accurate way. The camera is floating, the frame is often crooked, which made me feel as if I was in a trance after taking some not very legal substances. It’s amazing that because of the techniques used in the film I forgot how little I enjoy The Doors music and in the end I realised that the film is actually of good quality. Impressive job, Mr. Stone. Anyway, no matter if you’re a fan of The Doors or not, I recommend you to see Val Kilmer in this unique role. Especially today. May he rest in peace.

My rating: 7/10
S.