moonage daydream (2022)
director: Brett Morgen
Starring: david bowie
Genre: music/history
length: 2h 20m
release date: September 15, 2022
watched: January 10, 2025 (1st time)
I watched Moonage Daydream last week during my trip to Japan. While my family was busy shopping at Don Quijote, I was in a coffee shop downloading the movie on my phone.
It was probably one of the highlights of my trip. There’s something about watching a good picture in a foreign country; the effects feel more lucid and potent.
I know this film centers on David Bowie, but I ended up learning more about myself than I did about him. It became an intimate experience with my own psyche and all the existential feelings that come with being alive.
Perhaps that was the intention of the director, Brett Morgen. The film doesn’t follow the traditional documentary format. There’s no tour of Bowie’s childhood home, no explanation of how he began his career as an artist, and no interviews with his loved ones.
Basically, anything you'd find on Wikipedia, you're not going to get here.
I would describe this film as a painting in motion. For Morgen, it’s an audiovisual tapestry—an expansive collage of Bowie’s voice recordings, songs, films, and photos, all drawn from his archives.
In my opinion, it’s a masterpiece.
Moonage Daydream is less biographical and more experiential. Rather than spitting facts about Bowie, the film uses abstract styles and techniques to convey his essence.
I appreciate the direction of the movie. There are many things in life that can’t be explained with words—David Bowie’s artistry is one of them.
It’s hard to describe how this film impacted me, but I’ll try my best. David Bowie is many things, but in this essay, I’ll touch on specific qualities highlighted in the film that spoke to me.
Transcendence
the many faces of david bowie, by Helen Green
Bowie speaks to that part of me that’s infinite and boundless.
He had many personas: Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, the '80s pop star, Halloween Jack, and more. His career spanned many genres, including glam rock, art rock, psychedelia, industrial, electronic, and beyond.
He wasn’t tied to a single art form. Though he’s most popularly known as a musician, he was also a painter, film and theater actor, poet, playwright, photographer, draftsman, and stylist.
Bowie may have been a man, but in the highest form, he was genderless. He blurred the lines between masculinity and femininity. First, he claimed he was gay, then bisexual, and later admitted to being a “closeted heterosexual.”
He is everything and nothing—the universe in human form.
There are many limitations we perceive to be facts that in reality, don’t exist. Bowie became a pop culture icon because he challenged those constructs. Whether it was his sexuality, art, philosophy, or appearance, he wasn’t afraid to tear the rules apart.
Transience
Life is a never-ending cycle of death and rebirth.
Bowie exuded this transient quality in everything he did—many of which I’ve already mentioned. You can’t really pinpoint who Bowie was because he was always in a state of flux. He was never tied to a single identity or idea.
He was also keenly aware of the impermanence of all things. His album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) explores the fleeting nature of fame—how it both empowers and destroys. His final album, Blackstar (2016), was a sober meditation on his own death and mortality.
In the film, he mentioned he never owned a home. I fact-checked this statement, and it’s not entirely true—he did own several homes. However, I understand the point he was trying to make: he was a bohemian, forever in transit. He lived in London, Los Angeles, Switzerland, Berlin, France, New York, and many other places. Much like his art, he didn’t seem to have permanent roots anywhere.
Bowie also contradicted himself frequently. He started as an artistic rebel, then became an '80s pop star. He once rejected romantic love, then later ended up in a stable marriage with his wife, Iman.
Talk is cheap. You can say one thing at one moment and do the complete opposite in the next. The point is that nobody can box in Bowie—not even Bowie himself. The moment anyone tries, he’s already moved on to the next thing.
"I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring" —Bowie
Mysticism
ziggy stardust tarot card, the star
I love how Bowie mentions his zodiac sign multiple times in the film: Sun in Capricorn, Moon in Leo, and Aquarius rising.
What resonates with me so much is that his work is so deeply coded with mysticism and metaphysics:
His first commercial hit, Space Oddity (1969), was a metaphysical exploration blending space travel with existential themes. Station to Station (1976) examines his “shadow self” through the persona of the Thin White Duke, reflecting the darker aspects of his psyche. Starman (1972) tells the story of an astrological being sending a message of hope and radical transformation.
Because if anyone were meant to usher in the age of aquarius, it would be Ziggy Stardust.
He also mentioned in the film that for songwriting, he uses the Cut-Up Technique, developed by William S. Burroughs: a method of rearranging words and phrases to access the subconscious.
All this to say, Bowie was a mystic. His fascination with the esoteric arts was woven into his songs, albums, personae, lyrics, and performances throughout his career.
So, if people are wondering when aliens will infiltrate our planet, they already have. I mean, didn’t David Bowie’s appearance give it away?
Conclusion
Watching Moonage Daydream felt larger than life. At times, it was exhilarating; at others, overwhelming. Either way, it was a trippy experience that I’d gladly repeat over and over again.
I’m already a David Bowie fan, but this film inspired me to dive even deeper into his work. There’s still so much to explore that I haven’t touched on yet.
The reception of the movie has been generally positive, but I still see varied opinions. If you’re into artsy, experimental cinema, this will be right up your alley. If you prefer movies with a more coherent narrative, then this might not be for you.
I’ll end this essay with my favorite Bowie song:
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