When You're Strange

The Doors are probably my favorite band. Maybe that’s because they emerged at such a troubled point in American history and so captured the zeitgeist of that era, the late 1960s and early '70s. And yet I don’t mythologize them. But Tom DiCillo’s feature documentary is such an inspired portrait of not only the band and its iconic singer, Jim Morrison, and also that time period and its contradictions, its optimism and fury, its co-optation and transformation, that it instantly carried me back to those days. When You're Strange is far from a nostalgic journey and much more than a biopic. Using only original footage shot between 1966 and 1971, DiCillo's film attempts to disentangle truth from myth, depict the artist and the alcoholic/addict that was Morrison, and showcase the other members of the band: Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore, who together channeled the group's magic. It manages to preserve the mystique but never ceases to unearth new revelations and augment our understanding of who the Doors were and what they became. As well as an astute chronicle of the times, this is a deeply personal film for DiCillo. In the final analysis, When You're Strange is a rare tribute to music, individuality, and a generation and resonates with an authenticity that speaks to anyone who wants to understand that era and what it means today.
CAST

Tom DiCillo - Tom DiCillo received his MA in directing from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. His first film, Johnny Suede, screened at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival and won the best picture award at the Locarno Film Festival. Living in Oblivion screened at Sundance in 1995 and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Box of Moonlight premiered at Sundance in 1997, followed by The Real Blonde in 1998. DeCillo's Delirious screened at Sundance in 2007 and won the best director and screenplay awards at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. When You're Strange is his first full-length documentary.

Screenings:

Sat. Jan 17 9:00 p.m. - WHENY17TN Temple Theatre, Park City
Sun. Jan 18 2:30 p.m. - WHENY183A Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City
Tue. Jan 20 6:00 p.m. - WHENY20BE Broadway Centre Cinemas VI, SLC
Wed. Jan 21 9:00 a.m. - WHENY21TM Temple Theatre, Park City
Fri. Jan 23 6:15 p.m. - WHENY234E Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City