20,000 Days on Earth, 2014.
Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.
SYNOPSIS:
Writer and musician Nick Cave marks his 20,000th day on the planet Earth.
While Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s fictional documentary centres on Nick Cave’s 20,000th day, the subject himself remarks that “Memory is what we are… Your very soul, your very reason to be alive is tied up in memory”, and so this one day inevitably converges with the preceding 19,999 days. Whilst it’s more of an accurate way to tally ones footprint on Earth, it does lead one to consider how age is habitually rounded down to a vague inaccuracy.
As in all stories a guide is chosen – the story orbiting the individual as the earth orbits the sun. Character and events co-exist within the creation of a narrative, and in the short 97 minute episode that condenses down 19,999 days of experiences and memories; Nick Cave becomes a prism to refract life and artistic experiences to tell the story of a multi-faceted creative individual defined by his experiences and memories. But the glue holding these together to give the film form is the introspective reflection of these said experiences.
So how does Nick Cave’s 20,000th day begin? Before we start the day with Cave waking up and running off a monologue that infers the mundane truth of our ontological existence, we fast forward through the preceding 19,999 days painted by the chaos of image and sound that creates a feeling reminiscent of one’s head pulsing from the surging blood – an inordinate period of time condensed to a few minutes of screen time. This illusion of the distortion of time is one that fits cinema and more broadly storytelling like a glove.
20,000 Days on Earth is a mesmerizing experience that is subtly hypnotic that the realisation that one has succumbed to the magic of cinema does not occur until one walks out into the cold light of day. Forsythe, Pollard and Cave do not craft the conventional immersive experience. 20,000 Days on Earth creates an experience wherein you are susceptible to relating oneself to the film; conscious of the spectatorial experience in between moments where you find yourself lost within your own landscape of experiences and memories that tally a figure – equal to, higher or lower than 20,000.
Cave’s words present him as a poet, although this should not be surprising as oral and non-oral language is a cornerstone of his creative sensibilities and identity as a musician, songwriter, screenwriter and novelist. There is an act of seduction that reaches out from the man on the screen to touch our sensibilities, as we watch the poetical and lyrical Cave reflect on his life experiences and the creative process. Cave’s words afford us the impression that we are listening to the creation of a melody through the lyrical speech, his intoxicating voice matched only by his haunting presence. He is at once both introvert and extrovert; insider and outsider; writer and performer, dare one say a visible and transparent creative and philosophical force of nature.
Returning to an earlier observation of the language of narrative fiction and the film as a stage for the central character, what is most striking about 20,000 Days on Earth is that Forsythe and Pollard have crafted a film where a pre-familiarity with their subject is not required. The only requirement is for the individual to turn on their interest in the life or moments of another person.
If characters are the engine that drives film, then in 20,000 Days on Earth the fictional account of Nick Cave that poses as a documentary discovers one of the great characters to grace the screen this year, and makes a mesmerizing statement on why we go to the movies; why we read books; why we tell stories around the camp fire. In the end to be human and to connect with art is to be intrigued by other people, and Nick Cave proves a tantalising subject for our intrigue.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Paul Risker is a critic and writer for a number of on-line and print publications, including Little White Lies, Film International, Starburst Magazine, and VideoScope. He is currently based in the United Kingdom.
Originally published September 21, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
