Brian Hammons' thoughts on The Devil and Daniel Johnston

A complex story about art and the creative process, mental illness, and family. This is a documentary about Daniel Johnston. From a young age, Daniel was extremely creative, constantly doodling and coloring, playing piano and singing, making movies with his parents' camera, etc. Daniel became a prolific songwriter, writing and recording song after song, creating his own full-length albums he'd record on cheap cassette tapes and pass around town. While working at McDonald's he became somewhat of a local legend, his music to most would sound like the unrefined wailings of a timid kid, but many saw the beauty in it, so raw and genuine, that he started garnering attention in underground music circles.

Daniel is also very sick. Throughout his life, whenever things were starting to look up, he'd self-destruct, suffering from severe manic depression he'd alienate his family and friends, disappear altogether, lash out, proselytize and preach, and so on. He spent a lot of time in several mental institutions. All the while, his legend grew.

I thought this documentary was extremely compelling. I was fascinated by Daniel and his story. I couldn't help but think back to my own youth, as a young kid I'd also record music in my parents' basement, but never with such earnestness nor amassing such a staggeringly prolific output as Johnston did. Daniel's borderline craziness and its impact on his aging mother and father is also a very crucial part to this story and film. At one point his dad, while retelling the story of Daniel taking the keys out of a small airplane they were in and tossing them out the window, sending the plane into a violent tailspin and subsequent crash, starts crying. It's the type of real, genuine human emotion that great movies, even at their highest points, can't hope to convey. You're actually watching a man, who has spent the better years of his life constantly worrying and carrying for a handicapped son, temporarily lose control of his nerve and cry. Even though Daniel caused them such grief and trouble, many times over, the relationship between Johnston and his parents as depicted in the documentary is deeply moving.

Daniel is an enigmatic force, it's no wonder why those that came across him developed such a fondness for him. Whether it was his drawings of Captain America, or songs of unrequited love, Daniel was in every sense an artist. While the story itself is so captivating, it must also be said that the documentary, and those who put so much effort into it, is also tremendously done. It seamlessly blends in archival footage, interviews, narrative, etc. and is never dull or needlessly explanatory. It's a challenging film, just as Daniel himself is a challenging person, sometimes it brings us awfully close to a level of genius and also a level of mental unbalance that is almost uncomfortable to confront. I think one of the biggest compliments I can give it is that it inspired me. I wanted to pick up a pen, camera, paintbrush, guitar, anything and just create from within myself.