For the reason above, D.A. Pennebaker's documentary, ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS, is to Bowie fans what the Zapruder film is to conspiracy buffs: essential viewing. Bowie may have choreographed Ziggy's retirement for maximum effect, but Ziggy's last stand alongside The Spiders from Mars (the late Mick Ronson-led backup band) was sprung on both the filmmaker and the band at the very last minute. With this in mind, it's a marvel that Pennebaker was able to marshal five 16mm cameras to capture this event on July 3rd, 1973, on Bowie's home-turf of London, at a modest venue called the Hammersmith Odeon. Legal wrangling would tie up the film release until 1983, and this delay, alongside a muddy sound mix, didn't help the film's reception. It also didn't help that most theaters would show the 35mm blow-up prints with their standard 1.85:1 aspect ratio instead of the correct 1.33:1 ratio. Sure, the film was grainy, dark, and sometimes out-of-focus, due to the limitations placed on 16mm camera gear in a dark concert hall shooting on the fly, but that all added to the purity of the moment. Showing the film at the wrong aspect ratio, however, obviously added nothing (and deducted quite a bit).
There are still some mysteries that surround Ziggy's last performance with The Spiders from Mars. A German vinyl bootleg of the event captures Jeff Beck as a guest guitarist on a track of Jean Genie that segues into a cover of "Love Me Do," by the Beatles, and one can't help wondering what petty legalese kept this moment (and others) from being included in the film. But there's no grassy knoll to speak of, the main event here is the music. And that music, offered up here in this remastered 5:1 surround music mix and restored 35mm print by Cowboy Pictures, rocks the house, and rocks it clearly. Look for it at theatres in major cities across the U.S. this winter.
by Pablo Kjolseth
