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It takes an iconoclast to understand another iconoclast, which is why director Jim Jarmusch shows, in the documentary "Gimme Danger," such an affinity for the legendary punk band The Stooges.
Jarmusch mostly follows a straight chronology, detailing how frontman Jim Osterberg, taking the stage name Iggy Pop, brothers Ron Asheton (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums), and their friend Dave Alexander (bass) formed The Stooges in Ann Arbor, Mich., and became a precursor to the punk scene with unhinged performances (where, among other things, Pop was credited with popularizing stage diving). The band got a record deal, but couldn't hold itself together as members struggled with alcohol and heroin.
Jarmusch uses fresh and archived interviews with Pop, the Ashetons (neither of whom lived to see the finished film) and second guitarist James Williamson to document the band's rise, its spectacular flame-out, Pop's 1970s work with David Bowie, their 2003 reunion and 2010 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But while Jarmusch dutifully gets the bandmates to talk about their past, both filmmaker and subjects keep the focus on the music — with a wealth of performance footage that brings such classics as "1969" and "I Want to Be Your Dog" to life in all their ragged glory.
'Gimme Danger'
Opens Friday, Nov. 4, at the Tower Theatre; rated R for drug content and language, 108 minutes.