Movie Review - DiG!

Director - Ondi Timoner.

Cast - The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

DiG! is a documentary chronicling the journeys of two bands, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. For a whopping seven years the bands every move was recorded. Obviously the filmmakers became part of the scenery as they were allowed to capture some fairly heavy stuff on camera. DiG! was screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and walked off with the Grand Jury Documentary Prize. It is easy to see why.

The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre have a plan and that grand plan is to start a musical revolution. Well, that's not strictly true, The Brian Jonestown Massacre's lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, egomaniac and just plain maniac, Anton Newcombe, has decided a revolution is required.

It all begins as a friendship between the two bands. There is a mutual admiration between lead singers Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Anton Newcombe. In fact Taylor-Taylor, who also narrates, often seems to admire Newcombe even when things begin to sour between them. And sour they do. Newcombe does not envisage “selling out” as being part of him becoming the saviour of the decaying music world. When The Dandy Warhols begin to enjoy some mainstream success venom begins to flow through him and from him. Jealousy, combined with his ego and a dash of drug addiction sees not just the end of a friendship, but also the implosion of The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

While watching this documentary only a fool would bet on both bands staying the course and still making music today but both are still recording. For fans of either band this is an absolute must-see though for music fans in general it is essential viewing. It is true that the music industry can be cruel but sometimes fate and luck can have too much of an influence and looking at this car crash unfold it is rather moving to see the inevitable failure of the more talented musician. Then again, Anton Newcombe’s talent never stood a chance against his tsunami-like ego.

Trawling through over 2000 hours of footage must have been painstaking multiplied by tedium squared but it has resulted in a wide eyed examination of friendships broken, drug addiction, the quest for fame, on stage and off stage fighting. There is enough puss and vinegar here with which to paint your front room. DiG! deserves its' exclamation mark.