1. 22/7/2016 20,000 Days On Earth | Berlin Film Journal
http://berlinfilmjournal.com/2014/05/20000­days­on­earth/ 2/11
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Musician and writer Nick Cave stars in 20,000 Days on Earth, a modern and musical essay about
time, memory and fundamental questions about the being.
he trigger of the lm appears at the very beginning when Cave wakes up on his 20,000 day on earth, nearly fty- ve years
old, thinking about his whole life in retrospective until this day and looking for the de nition of himself. A journey of self-
awareness starts with a hunt for the real Nick Cave, chasing memories with imaginary and real friends, a psychiatrist and his
own archive.
The questions of ‘Who am I’ and ‘Who are we?’ will always be relevant for us from our very rst day on earth, and even when not
noticing it, we are starting an ephemeral journey in this world where actions come rst and the re ection of consequences latter.
Nick Cave is fty- ve years old and after a long career in rock and roll, the lm industry and literature, he has formed a family with a
beautiful wife and two kids, and it is a good moment for deep thinking.
In search of lost Cave
M A Y 2 1 , 2 0 1 4
20,000 DAYS ON EARTH
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2. 22/7/2016 20,000 Days On Earth | Berlin Film Journal
http://berlinfilmjournal.com/2014/05/20000­days­on­earth/ 3/11
If 20,000 Days on Earth covers the several personas of the human being, then it is most accurate to be focused on a rock star who
behaves differently on stage compared to his life as a writer, a husband, a father and in public (in the same sense that a regular person
would do with his friends or at the of ce). His rst action in the movie is to wake up, becoming conscious of his life –was he asleep this
whole time? – and de ning himself with a voiceover to the audience, to the world, while he writes on his typewriter. He will continue
to do this during the lm using the maieutic method on himself on three levels, with a psychiatrist about his intimate life and how he
got into the arts during his early life; friends, imaginary and real ones, sharing personal stories that happened on tour and nally with
the curators of his archive where we can see the artist on stage.
There is a subtle story on his 20,000 day on earth in Brighton that connects every discussion. Cave is always moving from one place
to another, metaphorically re-enacting the path of his life. Wiser in his fty- ve years old he keeps looking for the next step in his life,
choosing what is suitable from his past in order to come up with a brighter future. The lm ends with a concert of the Bad Seeds
stressing the words of the song ‘Jubilee Street’:
I’m transforming
I’m vibrating
I’m glowing
I’m ying
Look at me now
I’m ying
Look at me now
The music is a bridge that allows him to access to all that he wants. Everything in life can change, but in this case to perform live,
allows him to transform into what he desires the most.
(http://berlin lmjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1374050725_20_000_days_on_earth-oo.png)
(http://berlin lmjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1374050725_20_000_days_on_earth-oo.png)
Is this the real-life?
Documentary and ction are all one with no clear de nition between them. During the last ten years or so, several lm directors
started to deliberately use this form by turning it into a style pretty common nowadays in lm festivals and independent cinema.
20,000 Days on Earth is aware of itself as a lm and doesn’t lie to the audience by pretending to be a rare documentary about a rock
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3. 22/7/2016 20,000 Days On Earth | Berlin Film Journal
http://berlinfilmjournal.com/2014/05/20000­days­on­earth/ 4/11
 20000 Days on Earth(http://berlin lmjournal.com/tag/20000-days-on-earth/) Nick Cave(http://berlin lmjournal.com/tag/nick-cave/)
S H A R E O N : FA C E B O O K ( H T T P : / / W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / S H A R E R . P H P ?
U = H T T P : / / B E R L I N F I L M J O U R N A L . C O M / 2 0 1 4 / 0 5 / 2 0 0 0 0 -
D A Y S - O N -
E A R T H / & T = 2 0 , 0 0 0
D A Y S O N E A R T H )
T W I T T E R ( H T T P S : / / T W I T T E R . C O M / I N T E N T / T W E E T ?
O R I G I N A L _ R E F E R E R = H T T P : / / B E R L I N F I L M J O U R N A L . C O M / 2 0 1 4
D A Y S - O N -
E A R T H / & T E X T = 2 0 , 0 0 0
D A Y S O N
E A R T H & T W _ P = T W E E T B U T T O N & U R L = H T T P : / / B E R L I N F I L M J O U R
D A Y S - O N -
E A R T H / & V I A = B E R L I N
F I L M J O U R N A L )
P I N T E R E S T ( H T T P : / / Y O U R U R L H E R E . C O M
U R L = H T T P : / / B E R L I N F I L M J O U R N A L . C O M /
D A Y S - O N -
E A R T H / & M E D I A = H T T P : / / B E R L I N F I L M J O U
C O N T E N T / U P L O A D S / 2 0 1 4 / 0 5 / 1 3 8 9 6 -
1 -
1 0 2 4 X 5 7 6 . J P G & D E S C R I P T I O N = 2 0 , 0 0 0
D A Y S O N E A R T H )
G O O G L E +
( H T T P S : / / P L U S O N E . G
H L = E N -
U S & U R L = H T T P : / / B E R
D A Y S - O N - E A R T H / )
star. That is just the trigger for this essay that has an actual person facing realities from his own life inside a ction with Cave as one o
the accredited writers. It is believed that Truman Capote founded the non- ction genre by telling us a story of what he believes is
true but also allowing the reader to take its own conclusions of what could really happened or not compared to ction where the
narrator is telling the truth. Aesthetic movements born in literature take a while to reach the lm industry, but with this case in
particular (non- ction) it is even harder to accept the idea because people tend to believe that what is in a documentary is real. But
when you think about it, a documentary is just a camera showing little pieces of reality selected by the director who made a montage
afterwards purposely deciding what to show and when, using techniques from in ction. And there is where the beauty of a certain
non- ction genre on lm is found by knowing that nothing can be an absolute true and letting us to surf into the actions presented
and looking for other possibilities in a deliberately construction of reality.
Life and history are constructions made upon facts that an author believes were true and there will always be another point of view
for it. In our times, we are aware of that, then so the revolution of thought about who we are and why are here had already began
years ago and now it is a certain fact on lm as well.
The Cave Factor
His sole appearance on the poster draws attention immediately but also Cave’s terri c aura is spread all over the movie making it
dense, penetrating, personal and intense. Several questions are found during the movie and from the beginning Cave’s style known in
his music and literature allows the audience to take the journey with him along the 97 minutes of footage. That is how he takes the
audience into a trance as an initiatory journey where some part of us will die and new things will born which is one of the purposes of
art, to change people by bestowing society with tools that will allow them to express and grow. And that is one of the main goals of
Cave in the life presented in 20,000 Days on Earth: I’m transforming, I’m vibrating, I’m glowing, I’m ying, Look at me now.
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4. 22/7/2016 20,000 Days On Earth | Berlin Film Journal
http://berlinfilmjournal.com/2014/05/20000­days­on­earth/ 5/11
Manuel Bláuab (http://berlinfilmjournal.com/author/manuelblauab/)
Writer wannabe and Simpsons maniac, life is a ction based on that show. I love to quote.
Tw i t t e r ( h t t p s : / / t w i t t e r . c o m / h t t p s : / / t w i t t e r . c o m / b l a u a b )
F a c e b o o k ( h t t p : / / f a c e b o o k . c o m / h t t p s : / / w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / B l a u a b s )
1 C O M M E N T
P R E V I O U S A R T I C L E
SUPERMARKT(HTTP://BERLINFILMJOURNAL.COM/2014/05/SUPERMARKT/)
N E X T A R T I C L E
MUSIC LIKE ACTING: CLASSICAL
SOUNDTRACKS PART
ONE(HTTP://BERLINFILMJOURNAL.COM/2014/05/MUSIC-
LIKE-ACTING-CLASSICAL-SOUNDTRACKS-PART-
ONE/)

J U N E 6 , 2 0 1 4
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE
HYPOCRITES(HTTP://BERLINFILMJOURNAL.COM/2014/06/SCOTT-
PILGRIM-VS-THE-HYPOCRITES/)
J U N E 2 , 2 0 1 4
MUSIC LIKE ACTING: CLASSICAL
SOUNDTRACKS PART
TWO(HTTP://BERLINFILMJOURNAL.COM/2014/06
LIKE-ACTING-CLASSICAL-SOUNDTRACKS-PART-
TWO/)
Y O U M A Y A L S O L I K E
(http://berlin lmjournal.com/2014/06/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-hypocrites/) (http://berlin lmjournal.com/2014/06/music-like-acting-classical-
soundtracks-part-two/)