When one is making a documentary about someone – anyone – whose life was gripped by addiction, there is a very fine line that must be walked.  If the subject is presented in too celebratory of a light, the film lacks credibility and gravitas.  If addiction becomes the film’s sole raison d’être, pathos gives way to a funereal dirge.  What differentiates As I Am: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM from becoming a long-form version of any number of VH1 Behind the Music episodes is that, from the very beginning, filmmaker Kevin Kerslake identifies the role addiction had, in his subject’s life.

By charting the path of DJ AM (nee Adam Goldstein), as beginning with addiction, simultaneously climbing to sobriety and success, being wary of addiction, helping others facing addiction, and then (due to a series of unfortunate incidents) falling captive to addiction’s grasp; Kerslake (who had the cooperation of Goldstein’s estate in the making of the film) has given us a very multifaceted look at a storied individual.

There are two things that are in abundance in As I Am – music and commentators; and both contribute greatly to the final product.  With a cast that includes the likes of Mark and Samantha Ronson, Jason Bentley, Stretch Armstrong, Adam Bravin, Milo Berger, Ethan Browne, Diplo, Steve Aoki, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Paul Oakenfold, Pasqualle Rotella, and Jonathan Shecter there’s no lack of industry folks and AM contemporaries who shed insight into his life, as well as the influence he held and the impact he had.

As for the music, it – like any given set by the mash-up pioneer – runs the gamut from Elton John, The Doors, and Fleetwood Mac to The Ramones, Blondie, and Talking Heads; and from Gang Starr, Outkast, and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to Daft Punk, Black Sabbath, and The Outfield; with some Fischerspooner and Oasis, for your nerves.

The film certainly benefits from being a product of its time, where social media and technology fill in the gaps that – a mere ten years earlier - might otherwise have gone blank.  And there is no better example of this, than Goldstein, himself, who – with a tape recorder in his pocket – recorded his ‘share’ at a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.  It is these moments that are perhaps the most pure; and where Goldstein (who manages to be witty while baring his soul) lays it all out, for us – though he couldn’t possibly have known that this would be the forum in which that recording would be used.

This film was made not only to celebrate the life of one of the most influential DJs of the past 20 years, but also to serve as a cautionary tale – that wealth, fame, charisma and success are irrelevant when it comes to addiction.

As I Am: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM
A film by Kevin Kerslake
Click HERE for info

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