Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison
1969 was meant to be the best year yet for The Doors, with talk of them even rivalling The Beatles. Instead, it would be the year that saw Morrison arrested for reported indecent exposure on stage and cued the decline in the band’s fortunes and the iconic singer’s life. Exploring the life of one of rock music’s most charismatic frontmen, Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison is the painstakingly detailed passion project of director Jeff Finn, and the result of nine years of work, but what makes this three-part series different to any Jim Morrison/The Doors tribute, is that Finn is certain that the real story around the singer’s death is not what we are led to believe.
A one-man operation, Finn has had to travel across the United States, interviewing friends and family of Morrison’s from far and wide for his documentary. He believes his interest and devotion to the life of The Doors frontman can unearth and decipher what is fact and what is fiction in a way no one has managed before. Calling it a “documystery”, he tries to bring a deeper understanding to Morrison as a person, rather than the bewildering rock god the press portrayed him as, asking people to wake up to the possible reality that the death of Jim Morrison is a cold case that is yet to be solved.
Through a multitude of talking head interviews conducted by Finn, ranging from friends, family and to former band associates, Finn delivers a thought-provoking, albeit tenuous, theory surrounding the real Jim Morrison and a conspiracy around him. Because of the amount of time it took to put the documentary together, the editing varies with psychedelic and negative filters popping up every so often to set the tone. At times it fits with the storytelling, at others it comes across dated, unusual and off-putting.
As for the narrative itself, you can’t escape the feeling that despite the research and evidence gathered, there simply cannot be a reality where Morrison faked his death and got away with it. The series truly nails the messaging when it comes to showing what a bruised and lost soul Morrison was, particularly as The Doors experience their lightspeed rise to stardom, but when it comes to exploring the conspiracy theory, it doesn’t feel that convincing.
In 1991, Oliver Stone brought The Doors movie to the silver screen, starring Val Kilmer as Morrison. The surviving band members were reportedly unhappy with how the movie turned out and criticism was lumped in its direction for taking poetic licence with Morrison’s life and key events in it. Finn will be hoping that his passion project can do the lizard king justice; that will be up to the eye of the beholder.
Guy Lambert
Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison is released digitally on demand on 13th January 2025.
Watch the trailer for Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison here:
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