24-hour-a-day care

“Our hope is that this movie will make it possible for Daniel to be taken care of for the rest of his life,” “The Devil and Daniel Johnston” producer Henry Rosenthal told me at Dolby Labs, after the screening of his film. He was responding to my comment that that his movie about the obsessive-compulsive songwriter and artist (a film Rosenthal labored on for more than four years), was the best advertisement for the work of a working artist that there could be. At present, Johnson lives at home and is being taken care of by his rapidly aging parents. He has recently recovered from a diabetic coma, exacerbated by years of self-medication, these days mainly focused on cigarettes and Mountain Dew. In the past, lapses in taking his prescribed medications for bipolar disorder, combined with experiments with other substances, have had disastrous results — like putting his best friend, his father, and an elderly neighbor in the hospital. There have also been many months of forced hospitalization at mental institutions for Johnson himself. As Rosenthal puts it, “He needs 24 hour a day care.” (Photo and text by Tom Erikson)

04.07.2006