When You're Strange: A Film About the Doors

The Doors were a great band largely because of Jim Morrison, a charismatic front man, underrated vocalist, and lyric writer of considerable flair—but also in spite of Morrison, a drunken, unreliable clown, and pretentious, self-styled poet/shaman. Those disparate personas are inevitably part of any discussion about the “Lizard King,” just as Morrison himself is bound to dominate any documentary about the Doors—including this one. But director Tom DiCillo, who also wrote actor Johnny Depp's voiceover narration, has at least attempted an original approach in When You're Strange. Gone is the usual parade of talking heads (we see a few clips from old interviews, but nothing new from the three surviving members); rather, we're treated to lots of music, including live concert or TV performances of enduring classics such as “Light My Fire,” “The End,” and other songs illuminating the strange power of the Doors' sound: a unique combination of keyboardist Ray Manzarek's classical chops, drummer John Densmore's jazz background, and guitarist Robby Krieger's flamenco influences. Of course, it all comes back to Jimbo, and as the film chronicles the Doors' tale (including their increasingly anarchic shows, culminating in Morrison's 1969 questionable arrest for indecent exposure), it also details the sorry saga of a young man who cultivated his own myth before deteriorating into a hopeless lush. Of particular interest here is never-before-seen footage from HWY, a Morrison project that depicts him, not surprisingly, as a brooding loner. DVD extras include an interview with Morrison's father. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)