I watched a brilliant documentary film last night called The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It’s about an artist / musician, who is obviously extremely talented, but who’s hindered by being a manic depressive.

The film tells the story of Daniel’s life basically – from his childhood in West Virginia, to time spent in the mid-80s in Austin, Texas, to where he is today. It’s a very sad and moving story really. Daniel seems to have close to achieving major stardom several times. Kurt Cobain from Nirvana appeared often wearing one of his Daniel’s t-shirts, his songs have been covered by major bands, and at one point he was being chased my major record companies, but each time a breakthrough seemed guaranteed, his illness got in the way.

The documentary is also really well shot and structured. You can catch the trailer for it here, and Daniel’s offical fan site is here.