It was around the same time I discovered Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds when I saw Wings of Desire for the first time in the late 80s. Wenders, a big fan of Cave, put him in the film and he performs two beautiful songs on stage. Dark and moody, his outback gothic music was gripping and electrifying. Cave hasn't changed much. His hairline receded a lot but stopped around mid 90s, his sharp features dulled by age a little bit. But album after album, he remains magnetic as ever and still gives amazing performances on stage.
Forsyth and Pollard records the musician's creative process and documents where those lyrics are coming from. For some, 20,000 Days might come across as self-important, but for fans, it gives a rare, all too brief glimpse of the origins of his brooding narratives in his music. This doc is lyrical and floaty, instead of being a usual talking heads doc. Don't get me wrong, Warren Ellis is a great musician. But I prefer Cave's earlier stuff myself, more so than Ellis era (mid-90s on) Cave. Ellis is very visible here as an important collaborator of his work, exchanging funny anecdotes about how cool and electrifying Nina Simone was (once she apparently demanded cocaine, champagne and sausages all at once before the show). His friend Ray Winstone and Kylie Minogue show up for a ride. There are also a lot of songs featured from his latest, Push the Sky Away album. Great stuff.
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