Jarmusch film shows never-before-seen footage of Iggy Pop
Jochen Kürten ad
April 27, 2017
The father of punk music can now be admired on the big screen. With his latest documentary, "Gimme Danger," cult filmmaker Jim Jarmusch pays homage to Iggy Pop and his legendary band The Stooges.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EPA/J. Warnand
Advertisement
New Jim Jarmusch film goes backstage with Iggy Pop
Cult filmmaker Jim Jarmusch has devoted his latest work to his old friend and punk idol Iggy Pop. But "Gimme Danger" is more than just a documentary. It's practically a declaration of love.
Image: picture-alliance/NOTIMEX/Especial
A semi-nude man on stage
That's how the world knows him, and how his fans love him. With a nude torso and a microphone in his hand, Iggy Pop uses the stage for his musical excesses. As a matter of course, director Jim Jarmusch gives Iggy Pop's wild performances plenty of space in his new documentary, "Gimme Danger."
Image: picture-alliance/NOTIMEX/Especial
Historical images
A lot was written about Iggy Pop on the occasion of his 70th birthday on April 21, 2017. Now, the film "Gimme Danger" contributes some moving pictures to the celebrations. Jarmusch's film hits German movie theaters on April 27.
Image: Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures/D. Fields & G. McCain
A filmmaker with musical inclinations
There could hardly have been a better person than Jim Jarmusch to direct "Gimme Danger." He first met the musician back in the 1970s, and they have been friends ever since. Jarmusch was once part of the wild music scene in New York's East Village himself. Back then, he played in a band.
Image: Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures/S. Driver
Original film material
For "Gimme Danger," Jarmusch collected lots of unpublished material. His focus is on the wild early years of Iggy Pop's band The Stooges.
Image: Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures/F. Pettis
Excesses on stage
A musician sings and crawls around on all fours on the stage while the members of his band stay quiet in the background. That's just one scene in "Gimme Danger" that depicts the historical performances of The Stooges.
Image: Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures/T. Copi
Harmony was rare
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the band released three albums before breaking up due to the influence of drugs. The band aspired to a wild and uncompromising image, and lived accordingly. That makes staged pictures like this one not particularly meaningful.
After years of separation, The Stooges reunited in 2003 to make a comeback on stage. Iggy Pop, however, worked hard in the meantime, and even played with David Bowie in the 1970s - another aspect of Iggy Pop's past that pops up in Jim Jarmusch's film "Gimme Danger."
Image: Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures/B. Newman
7 images1 | 7
Jim Jarmusch is a devoted Iggy Pop fan - something that doesn't go unnoticed when you watch his latest film. "Gimme Danger" puts the rock veteran into a very positive light. Jarmusch has personally known the musician for a long time. After all, Jarmusch is a musician himself. He used to play in various bands and even recorded an album.
The filmmaker has also directed music documentaries, including one on Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse (1997). Musicians tend to come up regularly in Jarmusch's films, including John Lurie and Tom Waits. And even Iggy Pop once formed part of the ensemble in a short film by Jarmusch.
Iggy Pop and Tom Waits in Jarmusch's short film "Coffee and Cigarettes" (1986)Image: picture-alliance/Mary Evans Picture Library
Jim Jarmusch's respect for Iggy Pop
"No other band in the history of rock 'n' roll has ever come close to The Stooges," he raves.
What has impressed Jarmusch most is their combination of heavy drums, psychedelic sounds and a blues-a-billy-grind with laconic texts expressing existential fears and a frontman proudly prancing around like a snarling leopard that's impersonating Nijinsky, Bruce Lee, Harpo Marx and Arthur Rimbaud all at once.
"Gimme Danger" enables viewers to come into direct contact with the incredible musical power of Iggy Pop. The film practically brings them onto the stage while zooming in on The Stooges and their excesses during concerts.
Image: Magnolia Pictures
Obviously, Jarmusch's objective wasn't to take a critical look at the music industry. Neither has he scrutinized the years during which Iggy Pop celebrated a solo comeback in Berlin under the aegis of David Bowie.
'The greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time'
Instead, Jarmusch says he aimed to create an essay on Iggy Pop rather than a docomentary. In his view, the film is a declaration of love towards what may turn out to have been the greatest rock 'n' roll band of all time. And he thinks "Gimme Danger" is just as wild, chaotic, emotional, witty, brachial - and classy - as The "Stooges themselves.
