Portraits of tortured musicians

There have been several filmed biographies of tormented musicians who left too quickly, like Amy Winehouse. Our columnist chose five.

Last Days, by Gus Van Sant

Last Days (2005) is a brilliant and moving tribute by Gus Van Sant to singer Kurt Cobain, who ended his life 30 years ago, at the age of 27. It’s not strictly speaking a film. on Kurt Cobain, to whom it is dedicated, but a poetic film “inspired” in minute detail by the last days of the Nirvana leader, whom Van Sant knew. The idol of grunge is embodied with transcendent truth by Michael Pitt. His character is named Blake, but he is undeniably Cobain, from his skinny figure to the color of his hair, from the way he sings to the way he dresses, from the way he lives to the way he dies.

For rent on Google Play

Sid & Nancy, by Alex Cox

Gary Oldman’s immense talent was revealed by the role of heroin addict punk Sid Vicious, accused of having killed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in 1978. Chloe Webb brilliantly plays this American Sex Pistols groupie, who has fallen into a spiral of violence and drugs after his meeting with the bassist of the flagship punk group, himself dead of an overdose in 1979 at only 21 years old. Alex Cox narrates with flamboyant style in Sid & Nancy (1986) their tragic, sordid and morbid love story, from the couple’s point of view. From vitriolic punk revolt to disillusionment, depression, despair and hatred. A disturbing cult film.

Available for free on Plex

The Doors, by Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone never does anything subtle. Also, The Doors (1991), a hagiography by Jim Morrison, embraces clichés of sex, drugs and rock and roll. At least, it’s fitting… Val Kilmer threw himself body and soul into the role of the late Lizard King, who died in Paris in 1971, at the age of 27. In the excesses of his hedonism as in the dark ideas of his poetry. It’s a film about a hallucinatory journey, that of Jim, the film student at UCLA who falls in love with Pamela Courson (Meg Ryan), and of Morrison, the mystical poet who becomes a legendary rock star, made by an admirer confessed (before he descended into his muddy theories).

For rent on Prime Video AppleTV and YouTube

Control, by Anton Corbijn

Famous rock photographer Anton Corbijn immortalized singer Ian Curtis a few months before his suicide on May 18, 1980, at the age of 23. Then he tackled the myth of the tortured leader of Joy Division in his first feature film, Control (2007). This dark, monochrome film biography, inspired by the story of Curtis’s widow (Sam Riley), focuses on the couple’s stormy relationship – they married at 19; had a daughter four years later – as well as on the “bizarre love triangle” formed with a Belgian journalist. It is a singular study on the tragic destiny of an artist stifled by his own consecration.

Available on Prime Video (with subscription or rental), for rental on AppleTV

Dede through the mists, by Jean-Philippe Duval

Sébastien Ricard plays a Dédé Fortin on edge, by turns exalted and fragile, in Dédé through the mists (2009) by Jean-Philippe Duval. It is an elegiac tribute to an artist who also died too soon (May 8, 2000, at the age of 37). A classic filmed biography, punctuated with particularly inspired animated sequences, which makes you want to listen again and rediscover the songs of Les Colocs. Despite certain improbable dialogues which can sometimes ring false, it is a work made up of moments of great emotion and profound truth. The fair, precise and felt performance of Sébastien Ricard has a lot to do with it.

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