Feast of Friends

In comparison with Tom DiCillo's lucid 2009 Doors documentary When You're Strange, 1968's Feast of Friends plays more like a smeared Polaroid—which may have been director Paul Ferrara's intent—offering a glimpse of what it was like to live in the band's rarefied world. Although restored for home video release, the narrative (such as it is) is incomplete, since filming ended after frontman Jim Morrison's arrest in Florida on public indecency charges. Ferrara captures the Los Angeles quartet on the road, in concert, and on stage, where the leather-clad Morrison sometimes comes across as bright and focused, and other times appears to be lost in a narcotic haze. Guitarist Robby Krieger also seems exceptionally relaxed in a sequence in which he impersonates a folk singer to the amusement of a female friend, although that may owe more to his laidback personality than chemical enhancement. Feast of Friends serves up an impressionistic portrait of the Doors—also including keyboardist Ray Manzarek and drummer John Densmore—that showcases the band's eccentricities (even for the ‘60s), such as a performance of “The End” in which Morrison's propensity for improvisation comes to the fore as he sings the original lyrics, goes off on a tangent, and then comes back to pick up where he left off. The copious extras include “Feast of Friends: Encore,” with outtakes from the documentary (including a trip to Seattle, where band members ride the Monorail and visit the Space Needle); “The Doors Are Open,” a 1968 British documentary featuring a black-and-white filmed concert intercut with comic book panels, still photographs, and newsreel footage; and a performance of “The End” for the CBC. Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, this is recommended. (K. Fennessy)