An Iggy Pop and David Bowie biopic set in Berlin.

In the mid to late 1970's, musicians James Newell Osterberg Jr. (better known as Iggy Pop) and David Bowie moved to West Berlin, which was at the time still divided from East Berlin by the Berlin Wall. There is a biopic in the works now about their time there. The movie, called Lust For Life, is a collaboration between Altered Image and Egoli Tossell Film.

I hope the movie is good. One of my favorite books is Bowie In Berlin: A New Career In A New Town and it's probably my favorite era of Iggy's and Bowie's careers. It was a very prolific time for both men, resulting in music like Iggy Pop's The Idiot and Lust For Life, and David Bowie's Low and "Heroes", all of which were either recorded partially or completely at Hansa Tonstudio, and all of which are fantastic albums. Besides that, I really love the setting. It always seemed really cinematic to me when I imagined Iggy and Bowie living there and working there (though I do have a cinematic mind). Hansa Studio by the Wall would be a beautiful location to use in the movie.

I saw in the article I linked to above that a statement by Egoli Tossel about the movie said that "the central character of the film" would be West Berlin. It intrigued me, and reminded me of when people say that Gotham City itself is a character in Batman stories.

I'm imagining the movie being in black-and-white, much like the Ian Curtis biopic Control, but I realize now it might not be. I'd love it if it was though. It just seems like it would suit the setting and subjects. Maybe I also have a predisposition to picturing the story that way. A lot of the photography in the Bowie In Berlin book is in black-and-white, including the cover photo. Three out of the four covers to the albums I mentioned above feature black-and-white photos of the musicians as well.

It's too bad Robert Downey Jr. isn't younger. For years I've thought he would do a great job playing Iggy Pop in a biopic. He can even sing. I know he's around 18 years older than Iggy Pop was when he moved to West Berlin, but I'd still be willing to use my imagination a bit. As the audience, we would already be suspending our disbelief watching an actor play a musician we're familiar with anyway. I think it would work as long as the actor playing David Bowie didn't look a lot younger.

I'll pretend for a moment that there are people who read my blog who would actually comment, and ask... Who do you think would do a good job of playing David Bowie and Iggy Pop?