In January 2013 musician, Wilko Johnson was told he had ten months to live. In The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson, English filmmaker Julien Temple (The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, The Filth & The Fury) chronicles Johnson’s humble farewell tour and album as well as how the patient refuses chemotherapy treatment in order to live his life to the fullest. The result is a surreal and buoyant documentary that is hopeful and positive.
Johnson first came to fame as a founding member of British pub rock band, Dr. Feelgood. A former English teacher and recent guest star on Game of Thrones, he is an erudite talent and speaker who can ably thread together his own existential philosophies along with quotes from Chaucer, Shakespeare and others. This documentary is free-form in nature as Temple shows found footage from surrealists and nature studies alongside concert film clips plus interviews and adaptations of Shakespeare and other classics. But the most important aspect of this story is the conversations with the great, Mr. Johnson himself in what proves to be a sort of film equivalent of Tuesdays with Morrie.
The film boasts a fabulous soundtrack which features lots of English R & B music like “Shakin’ All Over”, “Louie Louie” and “Happy Jack”. The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Johnson’s collaborator on the successful Going Back Home album is also interviewed. But it is Johnson who is the most mesmerising to watch. He is often beautifully shot at his picturesque, childhood home of Canvey Island in Essex. The star seems so at peace with his decisions, despite the difficulty this could pose to his loved ones. He is also quite laconic and humorous in his approach to death as he accepts it with a profound sense of euphoria and even seizes the opportunity to change some aspects of his life as well as his outlook on things.
The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson is at times a little weird and oddball but its striking images and charismatic subject are too damn engrossing and this means the audience will not want to look away. Temple and Johnson have turned death on its head and created something that is devastatingly poignant and beautiful. The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson is a unique, playful and joyous look at life, death, love, music and psychology and it’s wonderful.
Review Score: FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Runtime: 91 minutes
The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson premiered at SXSW over the weekend – additional screenings will be held on March 17 and 20. For more information and tickets please visit the official SXSW Film schedule
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