Blu-Ray Review: 20,000 Days On Earth

By Brad Henderson

Nick Cave: That name is all you have to say in order to get someone’s attention rather quickly. Nick Cave is The Man among men and a God among musicians.

One person that knows this is Nick Cave.

When I first got wind that there was going to be a Nick Cave documentary I was more than excited to dive into the film and explore the life of the legacy known as Nick Cave. Well, even though I didn’t get the documentary that I expected, I still got something that I thoroughly enjoyed.

20,000 Days On Earth isn’t the life of Nick Cave but is more or less based on his 20,000th day on earth, but not really. Of course it’s a staged day in Cave’s life, but we do get an in depth and intimate look at his daily interactions and who he associates with on a normal day. My only issue with this is that it’s a staged day and it’s been written by Nick Cave. That’s not a problem by any means but I don’t feel like we get to see Nick Cave as a normal person; we only get to see him as he wants us to see him.

Nick Cave knows what he has done and the legacy he has created which kind of makes him who he is. I can’t think of too many people that are as cool as he is and who could get away with what he does. He could talk to the camera for two hours about how awesome he is and his fans would love it. No matter how cocky Nick Cave is he can get away with it. There is something charismatic about him and there always has been but I can’t quite place it. Ask anyone who is a fan and they will say the same thing.

Nick Cave is a true artist and musician with remarkable talent and this documentary shows it. Even if it’s staged you get to see how he operates and interacts with people on a daily basis. You may think that he is putting on a show but with as many interviews and performances as I’ve seen, I assure you this is no act. All in all, 20,000 Days On Earth is not what you would quite expect but it’s a unique take on a documentary and truly a delight.

Of course Drafthouse Films kills this release (as usual). It’s packed with special features and a lot of them feature Nick Cave. There are only a couple of companies that put this much time and effort into their releases. Drafthouse Films works their asses off of on each and every release they bring to the table.

20,000 Days On Earth was released through Drafthouse Films on November 18, 2014.