CLAIM TO FAME
A new film gives an intimate look at the end of David Bowie’s ultraprivate life
DAVID Bowie’s 24-year marriage to supermodel Iman was one of the most rock-solid unions in showbiz, ended only by his passing from liver cancer in January 2016 at the age of 69. But as revealed in the new documentary “David Bowie: The Last Five Years” — premiering on HBO on Monday, Bowie’s birthday — the rocker couldn’t help but think of the one that got away, in the twilight of his life.
In 2013, Bowie surprised the world by releasing the nostalgic ballad “Where Are We Now” (his first new material in 13 years) completely out of the blue. The video featured him wearing a T-shirt that said “Song of Norway” — a cryptic reference to actress Hermione Farthingale, who lived with Bowie in the late 1960s.
“She was his first big love,” director Francis Whately tells The Post. While working on the 1970 film “Song of Norway,” Farthingale left Bowie for another actor on set.
“After all those years, who would have thought he was still thinking about her?” says Whately. “Apparently, she’s a yoga teacher in Bristol [in southwest England] now.”
It’s one of the tidbits of Bowie’s reclusive last years that Whately uncovers in the film. Compiling interviews with collaborators the singer worked with on his final two albums and his 2015 off-Broadway musical “Lazarus,” Whately goes deep in revealing the intentions of his last works, and how his cancer diagnosis in 2014 affected that work.
Although Bowie underwent chemotherapy, treatment was stopped in November 2015 while he filmed the video for the “Blackstar” track “Lazarus.” Bowie found out he was dying while on set.
“Everyone told me that he mentioned it, and just moved off the subject,” says Whately. “He was working very hard, putting his house in order. He was sending out lots of e-mails — including one to me. He said that he was very happy with the album, and with his lot in life. And then he said, ‘What more could any man ask for?’ At the time, I thought, ‘What an odd thing to say.’ It was only after that I realized he was signing off.”
The documentary closes Whately’s own 20-year collaborative relationship with Bowie. The two first began working together in the late ’90s, when Whately directed a series of shorts about modern British sculpture. Bowie provided words and some music for one of them, and according to Whately, relished the chance to work on something that wasn’t strictly music-based.
“He had many interests, and a childlike curiosity for the world in general,” the director says. “We rarely spoke about music. I don’t think he ever knew how much of a fan I was, although I did get him to sign a copy of [his album] ‘Low’ once!”