DIG! Review
Somewhere between the bottle of wine, a night out seeing the Kills, throwin’ down on the dance floor at Shack Up and finishing a case of Lucky I realized I would never be able to keep up with Anton Newcombe of the band “The Brian Jonestown Massacre”, nor would I really attempt to. A mad genius of sorts, Newcombe’s self destructive behavior and borderline mental illness - which I’m sure isn’t really all that borderline - are the only reasons that you don’t own a Brian Jonestown Massacre album right now or see his videos on TV. DIG! describes itself as a documentary about the story of the friendship and falling out between The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre - which is a story it does tell - but it actually “digs” deeper into the lives of the artists, Newcombe in particular. It gives an inside look into how music as a lifestyle with all its accompanying parts can bring you many different paths and outcomes, overtaking everything and everyone around you.
Starting to trail both bands in ’95 right at the moment that The Dandy Warhols signed a contract with Capitol records while the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Anton Newcombe were doing exactly what they’ve always been doing – releasing glorious independent CDs - DIG! is a much deeper and darker look into music and bands than previous “rock-u-mentaries” such as Metallica – Some Kind of Monster and I am Trying to Break Your Heart – A Film about Wilco. DIG! captures its key moments just about every time Newcombe is on the screen – whether he’s claiming that he’s never wrong and that’s whey he’s never ever had to say I’m sorry; being arrested after kicking a fan in the head at a live show; getting into fist-fights with band members on stage at A&R gigs or just speaking. “I am the son of God” being one of his better quotes. While Newcombe and band are riding around in tight vans, eating less and doing ever increasing quantities of drugs his friend’s band - the Dandy’s - are off enjoying their success. This fuels the intensity between each member in the Massacre and directly contributes to the animosity and fear that builds up between both bands.
Director Ondi Timoner is granted access to every possible intimate moment during the time filming - just before Anton is arrested in the bathroom at the club or during one of his heroin fueled fights with an ex fiancé. These and other scenes contribute to the films overall emotional depth as you can begin to see why members and managers of the Massacre leave, one trying to walk from the east coast to the west to get away from his manic personality. Timoner is also the editor and her presence here helps the film’s overall flow giving it a strong tone as 7 years of footage needed to be broke down into a film just under 2 hours. DIG! rolls along engaging you with each new moment, and also allows the audience to constantly hear music from these two bands. It is only thanks to the soundtrack that you understand why people put up with Newcombe at all.
The film gains insight from the “enemy” of all music as an art form - the labels themselves. The music representatives lend their two cents on the whole situation - whether it be Anton, The Dandy Warhols or just how sleazy the record business is – and give you further insight on how much more stress is put upon you as a professional musician. It’s always a nice treat to see folks from TVT, Capital and others speaking freely of the situations and realities of the music business
The DVD comes in a 2 disc format with a cornucopia of special features including 2 hours of footage not in the film, commentaries from various Warhol and Massacre band members and a jam session between Dandy front man Courtney Taylor and Anton Newcombe. My favorite feature of the DVD actually appears on the film itself, though. You can watch it with the “link on” and during the film the word DIG will appear at the bottom right of your screen allowing you access to extra scenes that co-ordinate with the adjacent scene that you were watching. For some reason or other these scenes were unable to be put into the film but god bless DVD and the ability to give us full comprehension of everything. This feature gives you the goods on why people shouldn’t carry guns on pillows and then point and cock them at people when they’ve been experiencing drugs and alcohol.
I love documentaries for their intimate look into situations, lives and events that we would never be able to experience or see. I’m weary of how the directors or editors are able to manipulate the story content to make you feel one way or other but with DIG! this doesn’t happen. We are given an honest look into the lives of those it portrays and it engages you with the struggles, highs and experiences they encounter through the film. Many kudos have to go to Timoner and her crew considering how much they would have had to experience and encounter to have this film made. It shows in the final project, which only someone with a love for film, music and the joy that it creates in life would be able to put together. An entity such as DIG! is this kind of project.
