An old-school rocker (the only real celebrity cameo we get is from The Who’s Roger Daltrey with whom Johnson finally gets round to fulfilling an often-postponed ambition to lay down a record) and a rugged, bootstraps-style survivor of psychedelia, Johnson is also extremely thoughtful and erudite, peppering his observations with snatches of Shakespeare, Milton, Blake and Chaucer. In fact he claims that if he hadn’t got into rock’n’roll (something he amusingly suggests he did mainly for the money) he would have been an academic, studying English literature. Part of the joy of the film, because it is often quite an uplifting experience, flows directly from the seeming contradictions of Johnson himself. In being denied a future, Johnson says, fate has given him the gift of the present, an eternal now that he can experience without reference to its consequences. It is precisely the opposite of the reaction we all fear we might have to such a chilling final prognosis, and staying with Johnson as he recounts his experiences, as the sands in the hourglass run out, is a summary lesson in perspective and in taking note of the thrilling aliveness all around. ‘Ecstasy’ is a good description, “euphoria” another–Johnson speaks movingly and with great sincerity, in his uncompromised Essex accent, of the sense of wonder and relief that immediately filled him. Where to Watch This Week’s New Movies, from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. In its rather standard approach (interviews with Johnson himself in a variety of locations, sometimes contrived into rather strained mini-performance pieces, intercut with on-the-nose footage from old films and elsewhere) Temple’s film is a lot more ordinary than the person whose portrait it paints, because Johnson’s complex but generous reaction to his death sentence is utterly remarkable. And perhaps that’s why Temple is content to refer to Johnson’s musical talent and legacy only in passing in ‘Ecstasy.’ This is a film about a man, not a legend, and indeed it is the man who emerges as bigger than movie as a result. Having resolved to go out doing what he loved, Johnson had booked a farewell tour and recorded one last album with his mate Roger Daltrey on vocals, thus kick-starting an emotional rock'n'roll rollercoaster for both the Canvey Island man and the legion of fans who turned out in force night after night for a final celebration of their hero.Īs Temple's extraordinary film reveals, acceptance of imminent death gave Wilko a newfound appreciation for life that verged on euphoria: beating death has left him shellshocked, in fragile health and somewhat unsure of how to proceed with an existence he thought would be done and dusted by now – beyond a determination to strap on his guitar and get out on the road again as soon as possible, naturally.“If it’s going to kill me,” says Wilko Johnson, influential British rock guitarist, and subject of Julien Temple‘s new documentary, “I don’t want it to bore me.” He’s speaking of his shock diagnosis with terminal pancreatic cancer in his mid-60s, after which he was given ten months to live, and enjoyed, in his own words, “the most extraordinary year of my life.” Onetime punk-scene filmmaker Temple (who also directed “ Absolute Beginners” and “ Earth Girls Are Easy” back in the ’80s) has filmed Johnson, onetime punk-scene spiritual godfather, before - in 2009’s “ Oil City Confidential,” his documentary on Johnson’s most well-known band Dr. JULIEN Temple's documentary about former Dr Feelgood man Wilko Johnson captures the guitar star before and after the miraculous operation which saw him beating a misdiagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer last year. The Ecstacy of Wilko Johnson, Sunday August 2 & Monday August 3, QFT Belfast, 8.35pm The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson is at QFT Belfast this weekend
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