- published: 10 May 2016
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The Doors is a 1991 biopic about the 1960s-1970s rock band of the same name which emphasizes the life of its lead singer, Jim Morrison. It was directed by Oliver Stone, and stars Val Kilmer as Morrison, Meg Ryan as Pamela Courson (Morrison's companion), Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as John Densmore, and Kathleen Quinlan as Patricia Kennealy.
The film portrays Morrison as the larger-than-life icon of 1960s rock and roll, counterculture, and the drug-using free love hippie lifestyle. But the depiction goes beyond the iconic: his alcoholism, interest in the spiritual plane and hallucinogenic drugs as entheogens, and, particularly, his growing obsession with death are threads which weave in and out of the film. The film's depiction of Morrison did not sit well with his close friends and family.
The film opens during the recording of Morrison's An American Prayer and quickly moves to a childhood memory of his family driving along a desert highway. Young Jim sees an elderly native American dying by the roadside. The film picks up with Morrison's arrival in California and his assimilation into the Venice Beach culture, followed by his film school days studying at UCLA; his introduction to his girlfriend Pamela Courson, his first encounters with Ray Manzarek, and the origin of The Doors: Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore.
One is the cause
And two is mysterious,
Three is the wisest,
four is so powerful
Five with such kindness,
Six is always in love,
Seven the chariot,
Eight will rule them all!
Nine is a hermit,
Ten is just probable,
Eleven is virtuous,
Twelve’s hanging down a rope!
Thirteen is death and
Fourteen is temperance,
Fifteen the devil,
Sixteen is a tower!
Where did they go,
the numbers of the Lord,
untold?
If I let violence tear up my silence I’ll drown…
Seventeen, there’s much hope,
Yet eighteen can mislead!
Sweet nineteen like the sun
Twenty, the renewal!
Twenty-one is successful,
Zero isn’t just a fool
Pictures of love
And doors to another world!
Where did they go,
the numbers of the Lord,
untold?