INXS frontman’s genius is implied throughout Richard Lowenstein’s choppy documentary but never given the chance to speak for itself
Richard Lowenstein’s long-gestating documentary Mystify: Michael Hutchence has finally arrived after a decade in the works. In a sense, the veteran indie auteur has been chipping away at the film even longer than that, since the early days of his career, having directed several
music videos for INXS – the
Australian rock band the renowned singer-songwriter fronted.
Lowenstein also helmed the endearingly scuzzy 1986 sharehouse drama Dogs in Space. This bong water-soaked, couch-crashing classic features a rare leading performance from Hutchence himself, with whom the director was friends. Lowenstein has described Mystify as an apology for not being there for the late musician, who took his own life in a
Sydney hotel room in November 1997.