The Doors (1991)

[Darren]

The past couple of threads in the non-fiction area got be thinking about this film which I haven't seen in ages. I used to listen to a lot of The Door's music, and shortly after watching the film I read one of the biographies of Jim Morrison (No-one Gets Out Of Here Alive).

I must admit that I thought that the film tended to overly focus on Morrison's sex drugs and alcohol influence. After reading the biography there was a lot more to Morrison than this.

Anyone else seen the film?

 

[Tobytook]

Yeah, Stone's attempt to make a rock biopic some kind of spiritual odyssey was... pretentious at best.

I recall watching it in my first year at university - with all that that involves! - and thinking it was pure dead magic. But, unlike other films first watched under the same "conditions", it doens't stand up to contemporary viewings - or the sober light of day.

Denis Leary waxed comical about it after its release, citing what you pointed out as the lengthy focus on Morrison's addictions:

"We need a three hour movie about The Doors? I don't think so. I'll give you the three second version: I'm drunk, I'm nobody, I'm drunk, I'm famous, I'm drunk, I'm dead. Big fat dead guy in a bathtub - there's your movie."

Ever read any of Morrison's poetry? I've heard stories, but that's all.

Tobytook

 

[lies]

I like the music. The movie was entertaining (though, indeed, exaggerated in some ways). The biography I read had its pros and cons. I've never been much of a poetry-girl, but his lyrics and poems didn't strike me as awful. I absolutely hated the way his grave was covered with flowers and people at Père-Lachaise.