The Mind of a Fool
December 30, 2017 10:34 AM Subscribe
In 2002 David Bowie and Danish film maker Thomas Vinterberg sat down for a 25-minute long conversation.
Thomas Vinterberg had just come off the tail end of theDogme 95 movement (which he had founded together with Lars von Trier). David Bowie had just released Heathen.
What started as a conventional interview became a meandering conversation about creativity, anxiety, loneliness, art, and exile.
First post ever, phew. I first saw this interview back in 2002 on Danish TV and had been unable to track it down until I came across it recently. It is absolutely fascinating.
posted by kariebookish at 10:36 AM on December 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by kariebookish at 10:36 AM on December 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Also, this is an AMAZING interview! Basically a must-watch for any Bowie fan. Thanks for posting!
posted by hippybear at 11:02 AM on December 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 11:02 AM on December 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Excellent discussion. Thank you.
posted by metagnathous at 11:11 AM on December 30, 2017
posted by metagnathous at 11:11 AM on December 30, 2017
I'm not a superfan of Bowie's music, but I am a superfan of his approach to life and this is a perfect slice of that pie.
Also, Thomas Vinterberg is the long-lost brother of Dietrich Bader.
posted by rhizome at 11:35 AM on December 30, 2017
Also, Thomas Vinterberg is the long-lost brother of Dietrich Bader.
posted by rhizome at 11:35 AM on December 30, 2017
"I don't live in America, I live in New York." Love it.
posted by rhizome at 11:41 AM on December 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 11:41 AM on December 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Toward the end: "I'm sorry, we need another 10 hours, if that's okay."
I would totally watch another 10 hours of this conversation.
posted by good in a vacuum at 1:12 PM on December 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I would totally watch another 10 hours of this conversation.
posted by good in a vacuum at 1:12 PM on December 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
It did feel like they were just getting started. Sigh.
posted by gwint at 2:40 PM on December 30, 2017
posted by gwint at 2:40 PM on December 30, 2017
I won't ever stop loving Bowie and his humanism. This part of the interview to about 19:17 is so, so him, and his smiles are still electrifying.
posted by vers at 2:45 PM on December 30, 2017
posted by vers at 2:45 PM on December 30, 2017
Much too short. Like life.
I have a set of cards like that and the very best conversations I've ever had with the kids have come from those cards. The two kids who are not mine really bonded to me over those sessions and I and my kid to them. They all had very profound things to say. It got everyone's egos out of the way. At home at least.
I made this log swing for them. It's an eight foot length of red oak suspended between two live oaks with three seats and belts and they get that thing going. And then they stop. 13 says something to my son. 9 looks at him. He looks at the sky, thinking, thinking and they wait. I'm inside. I can't hear them but I know that look and he's still staring at the sky when he responds and whatever it is is coming from the truest part of him and the girls both hug him and start tickling and he's running in mock terror towards the house.
I'm not going to have dinner ready for forty minutes or so. We watch this. They cried about Major Tom when they were little. They do a rather bizarre Fairport Convention version of Golden Years. They cried about Major Tom when they were little.
What really got them was when Bowie was talking about anti-intellectualism. 9 and 13 both got flack at school for being too smart and they immediately recognized what he was talking about. It's about being flexible in conversation, not having any other goal except to see where it goes and listening. Set a nice tone for the evening and we sat at the table for hours after we were done eating and they weren't yammering for dessert. They have very accurate perceptions about each other's feelings, finish sentences for one another.
Everybody here has an absent parent. Two of us have two. 13 asks me what was wrong with my parents and I'm game. 9 is circling overhead. My son is looking me in the eyes. They knew my mom for that last year when I was not so sure.
13 says it is time for pie. She's breaking this up. Fine. Pie.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Not everyone is so comfortable in their own skin.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:12 PM on December 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
I have a set of cards like that and the very best conversations I've ever had with the kids have come from those cards. The two kids who are not mine really bonded to me over those sessions and I and my kid to them. They all had very profound things to say. It got everyone's egos out of the way. At home at least.
I made this log swing for them. It's an eight foot length of red oak suspended between two live oaks with three seats and belts and they get that thing going. And then they stop. 13 says something to my son. 9 looks at him. He looks at the sky, thinking, thinking and they wait. I'm inside. I can't hear them but I know that look and he's still staring at the sky when he responds and whatever it is is coming from the truest part of him and the girls both hug him and start tickling and he's running in mock terror towards the house.
I'm not going to have dinner ready for forty minutes or so. We watch this. They cried about Major Tom when they were little. They do a rather bizarre Fairport Convention version of Golden Years. They cried about Major Tom when they were little.
What really got them was when Bowie was talking about anti-intellectualism. 9 and 13 both got flack at school for being too smart and they immediately recognized what he was talking about. It's about being flexible in conversation, not having any other goal except to see where it goes and listening. Set a nice tone for the evening and we sat at the table for hours after we were done eating and they weren't yammering for dessert. They have very accurate perceptions about each other's feelings, finish sentences for one another.
Everybody here has an absent parent. Two of us have two. 13 asks me what was wrong with my parents and I'm game. 9 is circling overhead. My son is looking me in the eyes. They knew my mom for that last year when I was not so sure.
13 says it is time for pie. She's breaking this up. Fine. Pie.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Not everyone is so comfortable in their own skin.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:12 PM on December 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
I have a set of cards like that
OH DEAR GOD YOU ALSO OWN THE UNGAME BURN IT NOW BURN IT BEFORE IT TAKES OVER BURN IT BEFORE YOU ARE NO LONGER FRE===LKASJKAF;REAJN;ADF MBFANKLEa
posted by hippybear at 9:41 PM on January 4, 2018
OH DEAR GOD YOU ALSO OWN THE UNGAME BURN IT NOW BURN IT BEFORE IT TAKES OVER BURN IT BEFORE YOU ARE NO LONGER FRE===LKASJKAF;REAJN;ADF MBFANKLEa
posted by hippybear at 9:41 PM on January 4, 2018
« Older Reasons to feel better about the year that was | How To Solve Two Stubborn Murder Cases In One... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by hippybear at 10:35 AM on December 30, 2017 [5 favorites]