20,000 Days on Earth (2014)

Writer and musician Nick Cave marks his 20,000th day on the planet Earth.

Directors:

Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard

Writers:

Nick Cave, Iain Forsyth

Stars:

Nick Cave, Susie Bick, Warren Ellis

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Cave	...	Nick Cave
Susie Bick	...	Susie Cave (as Susie Cave)
Darian Leader	...	Darian Leader
Warren Ellis	...	Warren Ellis
Ray Winstone	...	Ray Winstone
Blixa Bargeld	...	Blixa Bargeld
Kylie Minogue	...	Kylie Minogue
Arthur Cave	...	Arthur Cave
Earl Cave	...	Earl Cave
Thomas Wydler	...	Thomas Wydler
Martyn Casey	...	Martyn Casey
Conway Savage	...	Conway Savage
Jim Sclavunos	...	Jim Sclavunos
Barry Adamson	...	Barry Adamson
George Vjestica	...	George Vjestica

Storyline

Drama and reality combine in a fictitious 24 hours in the life of musician and international cultural icon Nick Cave. With startlingly frank insights and an intimate portrayal of the artistic process, the film examines what makes us who we are, and celebrates the transformative power of the creative spirit.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | reference to religion | reference to transvestism | reference to skinheads | reference to nina simone | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Quotes

Nick Cave: The first time I saw Susie was at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and when she came walking in, all the things I had obsessed over for all the years - pictures of movies stars, Jenny Agutter in the billabong, Anita Ekberg in the fountain, Ali MacGraw in her black tights, images from the TV when I was a kid, Barbara Eden and Elizabeth Montgomery and Abigail, Miss World competitions, Marilyn Monroe and Jennifer Jones and Bo Derek and Angie Dickinson as Police Woman, Maria Falconetti and ...

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Crazy Credits

The credits are shown over a twilight scene of Brighton, shot from the sea.

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Connections

Features Number 96 (1972)

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Soundtracks

Can't Get You Out of My Head
Written by Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis (as Robert Davis)
Performed by Kylie Minogue
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd and Universal/MCA Music Ltd
Licensed courtesy of Parlophone Records Ltd

User Reviews

Is this the greatest ever music movie? Maybe.

Nick Cave is a very special musician. In fact musician may be the wrong descriptor.

He's a very special writer that specialises in music. He has Warren Ellis and his many collaborators to dial up the music side of the equation.

in this documentary, that looks like a movie, that, yes, he co-wrote, you find yourself immersed in the mind of a genius for an hour and a half as he discusses his life, his loves, his inspirations and his deep internal psychology in something approaching forensic detail.

He is a very beautiful man.

He talks painfully honestly at times about everything that is true to him. His 'muse' - his wife Susie who lies, back turned to camera in bed with him as the film opens.

We see half glimpses, stolen moments, of her off and on through the film but little more. We see a photo of her projected on the wall of his archivist's office.

She is as beautiful as he is.

Later we see Cave guzzle pizza with their twin sons, arm around the shoulders of one of them, devoid of comment/emotion, almost voyeuristically. It also spells L.O.V.E.

We see him kiss Warren Ellis full square on the lips as he visits his musical 'muse' on the occasion of a casual lunch of eels in black pasta. More love.

Cave carries an aura of love around with him. Yet he's often labelled with hate (partly because of the baggage of The Birthday Party have burdened him with. Grinderman, in this respect cannot help.)

We see him in the recording studio.

Gold dust. (Watching drummer Thomas Wydler as he twitches and mouths the rhythms is mesmeric.)

We see him crafting lyrics.

Gold dust. (His notebooks are works of art in their own right.)

We see him performing live.

Now, this is the thing. Anyone who has been to a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds gig knows that no band on earth put in the same level of emotional commitment to their music; (perhaps with the exception of his faux-misogyny project Grinderman) Ellis all crazy violin fury, Cave all emotional connection.

It's this latter point that made the movie for me. He talks about how he ensnares individual audience members and then demonstrates it with a live performance of Higgs Boson Blues that reduced his female 'victim' to tears.

Me too. It was all too much. All too emotionally engrossing.

And then there's the craft...the soundtrack (obviously) the direction and the cinematography are all sublime. A special shout out has to go for editor, Jonathan Amos.

And the cameos; Kylie, Ray Winstone and Blixa Bargeld.

I'm left with a tantalising question. Is this the greatest film ever made about music?

I think it has claims on that. Notwithstanding School of Rock.

Nick Cave. {I love you man.)

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Showtimes

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

20,000 Days on Earth

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,879, 21 September 2014

Gross USA:

$279,558

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,105,558

Company Credits

Production Co:

Corniche Pictures, British Film Institute (BFI), Film4

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1