THE DOORS
A film review by Roger Snappy Rubio
Copyright 1991 Roger Snappy Rubio
REVIEW: THE DOORS Starring: Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kyle McLachlan, Kevin Dillon, Crispin Glover
Oliver Stone's THE DOORS is the story of Jim Morrison: his rise to stardom, his turbulent life, and the man behind the music. It is also the story of the turbulent 60s, and the large role it played in Morrison's life. Oddly enough, it is not about the group The Doors; if it were, it would have spent more time describing the lives of the other group members, and not just Jim Morrison. Nevertheless, it is an interesting movie, and one worth checking out. Compliments to Kilmer: I think he "became" Morrison!
Stone paints a surrealistic portrait of a man haunted by ghosts from his past; a past of which the film tells little about, as much of this film does with everything. It is known that Morrison's family did not cooperate with the makers of this film, so Stone and company are only left to speculate about his childhood and adolescence. So, to make up for this lack of knowledge, the film focuses on his drug-taking and alcoholic way of life and his overpowering obsession with death. Oliver Stone supplements his telling of Morrison's story with the equally surrealistic poetry Morrison wrote while he was still alive.
This film could be seen as a two-hour-and-twenty-minute music video with nothing to offer as far as a plot, except how Jim Morrison lived behind the scenes. On the other hand, this film could be viewed as, what I like to call, the 60s in a Valium capsule: take one dose and you know everything there is to know about the 60s. Something like a decade immortalized in celluloid.
Oliver Stone is known to make movies about things that affect him personally. He made PLATOON, which was based on his experiences in Vietnam, and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, which was the story of Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic. The 60s must have affected him as equally as the Vietnam War did. This film makes you feel as though you are looking through the mind of Jim Morrison, but you also feel as though Oliver Stone is deliberately trying to put you there. All the time-lapse photography, frame superimposing, varying camera angles, and fades to white, along with the subconscious sounds of The Doors make you make you feel as if this is one big acid trip. On the other hand, it makes you feel as if you are having a vision of life in several radically different perspectives. This kind of filmmaking is always subject to the personal tastes of the individual; some may find it engrossing and innovative, and some may just wind up with a migraine headache by the end of the movie.
Perhaps a better title for this film would have been one from one of the books about Jim Morrison, NO ONE GETS OUT OF HERE ALIVE. Another might have been THE MORRISON STORY, because this film is not really about The Doors as much about Morrison himself. Although Morrison is the center of this story, Oliver Stone presents the setting of the 60s to be a potent competitor for the title role. Was he making a movie about Jim Morrison, The Doors, or the 60s? That's a question you will have to figure out for yourself.
I personally found THE DOORS to be somewhat entertaining. It provides some insight into why Jim Morrison was the way he was, and how the turbulent 60s played a deciding role in his life. It's not so much the story that people may disagree over (after all, there's not that much story *to* disagree about), but the way it is told. This film is what I consider to be true escapist entertainment. It places you in a different setting, a different place, and a different time. If that's what you crave in movie, THE DOORS is a good vehicle for consideration. Go see it; it's worth at least a matinee.
THE SNAPMAN
rsnappy@hydra.unm.edu
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