20 Years After ‘Dig!’ Revitalized Rock Docs, Ondi & David Timoner Add More Chaos & Context To Sundance Flick – Q&A
18.01.2024 - 18:11
/ deadline.com
Dig!, a documentary about two bands – The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols – is a musical trainwreck, equal parts romantic comedy and horror film that follows the highs and lows of being a musician, in the studio, on the road and in their own heads.
The film, which launched at Sundance in 1999 and is returning to the festival this year with an extended cut, is a favorite among the musical class. I’ve sat in countless tour vans and crappy motels where it’s watched, quoted and dissected by kids with a dream and a drumkit.
Dave Grohl, the legendary Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman, told me that it’s a “f*cking masterpiece” and that it’s also his favorite horror film.
“Watching a documentary like Dig!, seeing these two bands fall in love with each other, which happens often. You find your brother band, your sister band, you become a tribe, your big family. It’s not often that it goes as far south as it did in the movie Dig!. It’s been 15, 20 years or something since I’ve watched that film, but oh, my God, what a f*cking meltdown. This is a movie that should be shown to the next generation of musicians to warn them that these things can happen. God, I love that f*cking movie,” he told me.
Jonah Hill is also a big fan. He highlighted its “Shakespearian” undertone. “It’s an example of how great storytelling can get you unbelievably engaged, whether you have any connection to the world of the film or not,” he told Le Cinéma Club. “For me, this film is as important among docs as Goodfellas is among narrative features.”
It wasn’t an easy make, though. Ondi Timoner, who directed and produced, and her brother David Timoner, who produced it, spent eight years making the film between 1996 and 2003, having