Oliver Stone
The Doors

Fifty years have passed (it was 04/07/1971) since the death of Jim Morrison, the unforgettable frontman of the Doors, and just to revisit some film dedicated to him, among the various DVDs of the Doors' concerts in my collection, I went back to "The Doors" directed by Oliver Stone in 1991. In the past, I hadn't drawn a good impression from it, and to be perfectly honest, even this time I can't say I'm convinced of the quality of the work.

It is known that Stone (himself an admirer of the Doors' music) documented himself well on the subject by asking the surviving members of the group for advice and support in addressing the theme of Morrison's brief and intense career. Certainly a complex task to approach such a multifaceted rock star, but the final result left even those consulted by the director dissatisfied.

The latter presents us with a sketchy portrait of Jim Morrison, already impacted at a young age after witnessing a car accident in which some Native Americans lost their lives (enough to make him believe that the soul of a Sioux had become a kind of his guiding spirit appearing at certain significant moments in the film). Jim grows up cultivating various artistic interests (philosophy, poetry, etc.) underplayed in the film's plot, and he is seen at the UCLA film school, where, however, he struggles to fully express himself, and luckily meets Ray Manzarek, with whom he will form the Doors, also sharing the experience of early LSD and mescaline trips. After an intense period of gigging in Los Angeles' alternative venues, they land a contract with a major record label and inevitable success in the unforgettable 1967, with the early troubles that, as is known, would benefit neither Jim's health nor the career of the Doors themselves. The band would virtually end the day Morrison, embroiled in legal disputes following accusations of obscene acts during a concert in Miami in 1969, left the States to move to Paris, where he would die of an overdose from poorly cut heroin (facts that remain still unclear).

In short, this is the story of Jim Morrison and the Doors. What doesn't work in the film? In my opinion, aside from certain questionable passages such as the meeting with Andy Warhol and Nico rendered very caricatured, and the whole affair with journalist Patricia Kennealy who claims to have married Jim in a Wicca ceremony (an incredible story although he didn't hold back with women), the director portrays a Morrison essentially drunk and lost and a jerk in interpersonal relationships, especially with Pamela Courson to whom he was sentimentally attached. Yet, for those who knew him, he was also a person with humor and equipped with extroversion (particularly on stage where he would enter a trance becoming a kind of rock shaman) that concealed a fundamental shyness.

Therefore, a man with a complex personality who was acting in a highly competitive world such as the music business and not particularly loved by him. This influenced certain behavior of his and, in light of what is known, the film fails to capture the so-called through-line of Morrison's artistic story—his cultural baggage (based on Nietzsche, Rimbaud, Blake, etc.) that allowed him to engage in poetic composition enough to publish a book of poems in 1970. And precisely following this editorial initiative and his first-hand experiences, he matured the belief that rock music was dead (even the Who would agree, intoning "Rock is dead, long live rock!") and that it was time to change his life. Indeed, by deciding to leave the Doors, Morrison didn't just want to unplug as Stone's film might suggest, but to make a turning point in his artistic journey, more akin to his real inclinations and freeing himself from certain market logics that troubled him.

This is why, despite an excellent performance by Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison and a great soundtrack, a discerning viewer like me and others who have followed the Doors' discography and artistic journey cannot help but feel perplexed in the face of the film from an emphatic and overrated director (except for "Platoon") like Oliver Stone. And it is worth it instead, if we want to remember Jim Morrison in a worthy manner 50 years after his death, to recommend watching films of his concerts, available on the DVD market.