Gimme Danger (Jarmusch, 2016) is streaming on DocPlay
Those readers who know me personally will probably already know what a sucker I am for a good music documentary. Every time we subscribe to a new streaming service, “music” is the first keyword I search for.
I saw Gimme Danger, Jim Jarmusch’s sweet tribute to the proto-punk band The Stooges, on a plane so my memory of the details is hazy.
What I do remember is the vibe (your honour) and the sense that Iggy Pop – the most famous Stooge – might well have turned out to be one of the nicest and most astute men in rock. He certainly appears to have the best memory. Sobriety will do that for you.
These things work best when there is a decent amount of archival footage to draw on and so it proves here. Somehow, this brash bunch of suburban Michigan kids managed to get themselves on film quite a lot in those early years and – even more remarkably – not lose all that film during the intervening years. Bowie had Bowie’s mum – who was the Stooges archivist?
Like the Stooges, the film is irreverent, loud, funny and life-affirming. I was never a huge fan of their music but that doesn’t stop me recommending a lively and lovely film.
Gimme Danger is streaming on the Australasian documentary specialist streaming service DocPlay. They offer a 14-day free trial and have all the apps for all the platforms.
By my count they have 133 music documentary features or series available to stream and I suspect this is a well I will return regularly for future recommendations.
