The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006)

A Disappointing Continuation

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

What can I say other than this is one of the most entertaining, powerful, poignant, and, all in all, GREAT documentaries I have ever seen (and I've definitely seen quite a few). Everything about 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston' is executed perfectly. In terms of editing and structure and pacing and even camerawork and cinematography it is far and away superior than your average non-documentary. And, if there ever was a fascinating subject to spotlight in a documentary, it's the legendary Daniel Johnston, whose story sounds like much taller a tale than it really is. It's all true, and much of it sounds like legend. Johnston is portrayed sympathetically, his music is praised (as it should be), but there is also heavy focus on his own extreme mental illness(es) and how his complex and challenging manic-depressive state has infected his life in a way that produces great art and great suffering, but Johnston's life story isn't depressing either. It's funny in parts, too, and heroic and happy in others. It's intense and haunting and ridiculous and inspiring and it's all true and it all focuses on the story of an artist like no other. An artist whose talent gladly continues to only grow in popularity and public awareness, an artist who's none other than Daniel Johnston.

What an amazing/ sad story! Great doc! I would love to get my hands on all his tapes. He is a master poet and very talented piano player! He has completely opened his heart in his music. Everyone should listen to "Hi, How Are You" to get a sense of this. You can definitely tell he was ahead of his time when he wrote and recorded his music.I would like to know if he had done the animation on "Story of an Artist" in the documentary. The character in the animation is exactly the same style of sketches he uses on all his albums.Has anyone approached Sam Rockwell to do a Biopic on Daniel Johnston? I think that would be amazing!Def recommended for all music lovers!

Folktales are comprised of legends and are seldom rooted in truth. Often, they deify men and make overcoming the impossible seem plausible. Daniel Johnston's life has been riddled with such extreme triumph and tribulations that most would relegate his story to myth, had his journey not been so well documented. It also makes the intrinsic value of his folk music and art that much more valuable. It's easy to write his extensive catalog off as simple work from a simple mind, but after watching the well-orchestrated documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) its evident that Johnstons brilliance is co-morbid with his disabilities. The rudimentary form his craft takes ties into his perceived understanding of the world and leaves his fans bewildered at the profoundness of his genius; especially because all other arenas of his life are plagued by his struggle with manic-depressive behavior and delusions of grandeur. The film, directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, serves as an instrument in helping audiences attain a better understanding of Daniel's disposition by utilizing post-production techniques to imbue the audience with same sense of mania that Johnston lives with from day to day. His disorder bore a neurosis that left behind an abundance of archival ephemera. The authenticity of his a visceral and auditory journaling, though music and other musings, create a first-person perspective through Johnston's eyes, which helps motivate the story when seamlessly woven into the narrative. It helps the audience understand the fantasticness of his irrationality by making them live through these severe circumstances. Presentation of the memorabilia through editing and Feuerzeig's direction also helms psychosis, as the each segment is ripe with strife to the point of cerebral saturation. However, the intensity of the segments are juxtaposed with stagnate close- ups of a tape recorder, where we just hear Daniels unnerving voice talking about the events as he experiences them. The paradox in pace creates the elusive mental-states of eccentricity and depravity in the audience. It's sort of like trying to describe to someone what it feels like to ride a roller-coaster; it's a lot easier just to let them ride themselves. Feuerzeig artfully captures Daniels essence as an unpredictable and mentally unstable individual, yet manages to garner adoration for the protagonist by surmising that Daniel is not the sum of his disorder. This film could have spun in any number of directions, exploiting the travesty's that ensued with Johnston's inherent proclivity toward the eccentric, but the director maintains tact and decency that gave the film a level of material that couldn't be created by any sort of misdirection. As style usually prevails over substance, The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) lags in neither; it's an articulate film about an unarticulable condition.

I watched this knowing that I am not a big fan of the music of Daniel Johnston, but found it ceaselessly moving and fascinating. No just because of Daniel's unstoppable creativity and heartbreaking slump into ever increasing circles of mental illness, but because of the honesty of people around him. Saying that they were scared, that they just wanted him to go to hospital and get better, the truth... 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. Also, let's see more Daniel Johnston cartoons, the bit with the eye ball flying out of the head on the stack of comic books was absolute genius.