20,000 Days on Earth
Starring Nick Cave
Directed by Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
“Where do you get your ideas from?”
Typically, this is a question that only elicits eye rolls from creators. In the case of Nick Cave – the prolific artist responsible for hundreds of songs that wed eloquent turns of phrase with unholy turns of events – the query affords him the opportunity to explore the identity he's created for himself and career he's carved out.
On the occasion of Cave's 20,000th day on Earth, filmmakers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard follow Cave – characteristically adorned in an immaculately tailored, fit-for-a-funeral black suit – around his dreary adopted home of Brighton. Visits to his therapist and personal archive impart backstory and offer glimpses of younger days. The fact he's aging seems a key motivating factor for this quietly urgent exercise. And his fierce determination to continue to pen exquisite new chapters of a life's work in which women are mythical creatures, men are monsters and people, for the most part, just ain't no good, are what make this film so fascinating and inspiring. (The studio and stage performances are alternately enthralling and explosive.)
Addressing his legendary live shows, Cave suggests that he locks himself in a psycho drama with the front row. The effect is much the same here as he gives the impression that this film is a confession being intimately shared with each individual viewer. And there is wisdom that he imparts that will send shivers down the spine of anyone who has ever harboured ambitions of creating something of consequence. Cave's glorious sermon from the silver screen instills in you the staunch belief that there isn't a moment to waste.
Screens at Vancity Theatre Oct. 17-20 and Rio Theatre Oct. 21-22.
