Take a drive down Guadalupe Street in Austin, Texas, and right before you pass Mamie Mam's Thai Restaurant and the University of Texas' Main Campus, there will be a huge black and white mural on the side of a building. That building used to house Tower Records, boasting a swank collection of music worthy of Austin's notoriously discerning tastes, but now it's a Baja Fresh. Go figure.
But the mural is still the same. It's a cartoon-looking frog, with a huge smile on its face and eyes protruding from its head like little wavy tree trunks. There's a speech bubble coming out on the right side with the words, "Hi! How Are You?"
The mural has become an icon for Austin, as it was painted by and is the hallmark of one of the city's favorites: Daniel Johnston - musician, artist, maven and sometimes picture of psychological instability. It is also the name of Johnston's breakout cassette tape, which he recorded in his brother's garage.
The new documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" serves as a great introduction to the manic-depressive and arguably genius musician. The film opens with Johnston in the present day, obese and gray, with his lisp more pronounced than ever. He looks worse for wear, but when he starts singing, the power is there. And the audience, as always, still loves him.
The film's title refers to Johnston's obsession with Satan and the battle between Good and Evil as his manic depression affected his daily life more and more. This period is amazingly well documented by Johnston's own recordings and films, most of which have never before been available to the public.
As the documentary shows, Johnston had always been a glutton for the limelight. He made home movies with his older brother (Daniel was the youngest of four), often portraying several characters in the same film. By early adulthood, Johnston had established a home art and music studio in his parents' basement, what friends referred to as an "art factory." He thankfully recorded everything: songs, recorded diary entries and even arguments with his mother for not doing anything but music and art, which she saw as a waste of time and against her fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
David Thornberry, lifelong friend of Johnston and one person interviewed for the documentary, said, "All Daniel Johnston was interested in was making art and being John Lennon."
The film is very well made, mixing old home movie footage with shots of Johnston's art, which he has made prolifically and obsessively since boyhood. The most interesting parts of the film, though, are the performances, especially Johnston's MTV performance in the '80s, introducing him to the world for the first time.
The film also captures the pain of Johnston's life. It is what drives his music and art - things like troubles with girls, his relationship with his family and his battle with manic depression and the haunting visions it all caused him.
But the most depressing part of the movie is Johnston's apparently involuntary self-sabotage, letting his psychological state interfere with his career. The best example of that is when Johnston fired his long-time manager Jeff Tartakov just as Johnston would have received an unprecedented deal from Elektra Records, which would have secured Johnston's career and livelihood.
Johnston became friends with many members of the artistic upper crust, evidence of a mysteriously blending of serendipity, hard work and divine providence. He worked with members of Half Japanese and Sonic Youth (there's a great scene in which Lee Ronaldo and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth are frantically driving around New York City looking for Johnston, who had disappeared on one of his manic episodes), and has influenced artists such as Beck, Tom Waits and the Flaming Lips. He now lives in Waller, Texas, and fronts the band "Danny and the
Nightmares"
