Jim Jarmusch pays tribute to seminal proto-punk champs the Stooges and their wiry frontman Iggy Pop in this tremendously entertaining rock doco, charting their rise and premature demise through to their late-career revival.
Like the Stooges and their music, Gimme Danger is a little wild, messy, emotional, funny, primitive, and sophisticated in the most unrefined way.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2016
Gimme Danger 2016
Presented in association with
“Jim Jarmusch’s contention that the Stooges were the best rock‘n’roll band ever is the starting point for a wonderfully eloquent documentary; not only does Iggy Pop contribute (verbally and facially) articulate reminiscences about the rise and fall of the band, but there’s a lovely mix of archive footage, interviews, photos and even animation to accompany the music. The director’s enthusiasm and erudition combine with his cinematic expertise to create one of the great rock documentaries of recent times.” — Geoff Andrew, Sight & Sound
“What makes this witty, wildly affectionate tribute to the proto-punk band out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, so inclusive… is the even-handed embrace it extends to all the significant Stooges members, surviving and fallen; the film is dedicated to four of the latter… But the real takeaway from Gimme Danger (the title comes from a track off The Stooges’ 1973 album, Raw Power) is the enduring charge of signature songs like ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’, ‘No Fun’, ‘TV Eye’ and ‘I Got a Right’. Nobody can dispute Pop’s description of the latter as a track that’s ‘fast as lightning and kicks like a mule’. And Jarmusch employs a welcome economy in his brisk assessment of the countless bands influenced by The Stooges – The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Sonic Youth, Circle Jerks, Buzzcocks and White Stripes among them.
Edited with relentless vitality… [Gimme Danger] will be devoured by nostalgic Stooges fans but also should send the uninitiated scrambling for downloads.” — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter