Moby Doc: Novel Filmic Memoir of EDM Star and Vegan Activist Holds Nothing Back
By Kim Hughes
Rating: B+
To heal from a brutal breakup, I set out for Hawaii alone in early 2000, bringing along some bathing suits, random CDs, and enough sadness and self-loathing to drain countless vodka bottles. One of those CDs was Play by Moby which was taking off but which I hadn’t yet explored. One day, on a solemn drive along Maui’s perilous/gorgeous and storied Hana Highway, Play was what I happened to play.
I was flattened. In the lyrics of the soon-to-be smash single “Porcelain,” I heard a kindred spirit, someone I perceived as damaged and hurt as I was on that trip. I have always had a deep and spiritual relationship to music, but that moment on the Hana Highway with Play was unparalleled. And while I wouldn’t call myself a huge Moby fan — the love began and ended with that album — I retained a fondness, reinforced by my admiration for his animal advocacy.
So, I was keen to watch Moby Doc, to learn more about this performer who has been on my periphery for 20 years but about whom I knew little. Now I know a lot. And I can honestly say that even non-fans will allow that Moby’s candor in Moby Doc — not to mention his and director Rob Gordon Bralver’s unconventional but visually arresting approach to storytelling —is as singular as “Porcelain.”
Evidently, Moby and his music are connective tissue between sadness, comfort, and personal revelation.
As if anticipating questions before they are asked, Moby meets his skeptics at the very start, addressing the camera and asking, “Why in the world would I want to make a documentary about myself? I think that’s a pretty legitimate question.”
What follows is the chronological story of his life to date, told without varnish in his words and narration. The man is fearless, with a fascinating celebrity life to boot. But he has clearly spent heaps of time inside his own head pondering the proverbial price of fame.
Remarkable career highs like seeing his music chart between Michael Jackson and Phil Collins, tours with David Bowie, Flaming Lips, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and performing to tens of thousands of fans globally are well documented alongside lows like missing his mother’s funeral because he was too wasted, and feeling suicidal in his posh Barcelona hotel suite opposite penthouse neighbours Madonna, Jon Bon Jovi and P. Diddy ahead of the MTV Europe Music Awards.
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Animation, home videos, archival footage, stop-action, and fictionalized sequences add texture (some might say artifice) to the normal doc terrain of talking heads interviews, notably with director David Lynch and the subject himself. There’s also a fair bit of existential positing via voice-over, which is cool or grating, depending on your perspective.
Moby’s troubled childhood is explored, and it is there that his lasting, even life-saving connection to both music and animals is found. But it’s how he explores his own guts and fuckedupedness that is captivating. This is movie as therapeutic balm and psychological exercise; indeed, one of the film’s conceits is Moby in obviously staged sessions with a “therapist…” also cool or grating, depending on your perspective. There’s no arguing with the blunt narrative instrument the musician brings to bear.
As to be expected, there is proselytizing about animal rights, but those on the team wouldn’t have it any other way. A thoughtful segment with buffalos scored to Moby’s stunning, ethereal, Philip Glass-like track “Old” at about the one-third point is especially persuasive, and the film’s final quarter shifts squarely into politics which also seems about right, as it’s where Moby is now.
Curiosity seekers hoping for enlightenment on the recent Natalie Portman kerfuffle won’t find it, but Moby is frank enough about his rampant former drug and drink use to make anything seem possible. People will either love Moby Doc or hate it, but absolutely no one will exit with a shrug. I’d call that an achievement.
Moby Doc. Directed by Rob Gordon Bralver. With Moby. Now playing in cinemas where applicable and streaming via virtual cinemas, including Hot Docs and VIFF.