Netflix released “Avicii: I’m Tim” last year summer – A heartfelt story on the life of the Swedish DJ told in his own words. While in 2017, before his untimely death, a similar film had been released, directed by Levan Tsikurishvili called “Avicii: True Stories“. Swedish director and music journalist Henrik Burman has directed “I’m Tim“. We take a closer look at both the films so that you know what to expect.
While I’m Tim Features More Interviews With Stars and Avicii’s Music Prodigy, True Stories is an Uncooked Closer Look into Avicii’s Life
While both the films have appearances by Chris Martin, Nile Rodgers and David Guetta, “I’m Tim” is a little more of a starry affair with interviews from more musicians like Aloe Blank and Dan Tyminski. Both musicians talk about how they met the DJ and came to work with him. It also has interviews from close friends like Jesse Waits who explains a lot of the story including dinner table conversations. Whereas “True Stories” delves deeper into the star’s personal life with more behind-the-stage footage, although there is footage of Avicii with other musicians. You will get to see more of his struggles with addiction. “True Stories” also features Avicii’s hospital stay for pancreatitis.
Both films talk about Avicii’s musicality and brilliance, but “I’m Tim” dives deeper into the perils of stardom as we hear it coming from more stars. We get to hear Chris Martin‘s POV of working with Avicii and collaborating on songs like “A Sky Full Of Stars”, while “True Stories” also features some studio footage of the Coldplay frontman.
“True Stories” Takes a Dive Into Avicii’s Conflict With His Manager. While I’m Tim Talks more about his Musical Journey.
“True Stories” also gives us an insight into his relationship with his management team, particularly with his then-manager Ash Pournouri appearing every now and then.
If you want to get into how the star continuously put in the work – sleepless nights in between gigs, long session hours affecting his health, alcohol dependency before getting on the stage : everything in more details, “True Stories” should be your pick. Whereas if you want to know more about the musical side of the prodigy: how he made melodies so effortlessly or more about his collaborations, go for “I’m Tim”.
Since the latter was released after the star’s death the last few minutes will certainly leave you emotional. “True Stories” leaves us where Avicii was trying to find himself through vacations and meditation after he completely left touring.
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“I’m Tim” also takes a look at how Avicii wanted to explore more with musical instruments like the acoustic guitar and piano, but wasn’t confident about whether people would accept him like that. The Ultra Music festival turned out to be disappointing for the star. A lot of fans had reacted negatively to the use of musical instruments on stage and the vibe: which was something new to his setup.
“True Stories” gives us a count of the total number of shows he has done from time to time as we keep getting more clarity, a little more on the personal side of life. It also talks about Avicii’s last show in more detail.
“That was just it for me…I can’t see a way to do this and be happy about it” – Avicii
Both films show us the dark side of his life when he completely stopped doing shows and decided to focus on himself. Avicii did not like doing shows anymore. Both movies excel in their ways in showing his struggles in finding himself while dealing with the consequences of his decision. In “True Stories” the star admits he wasn’t liking what he was doing at all towards the end of his DJ career, although he had to pretend otherwise. “That was just it for me….I can’t see a way to do this and be happy about it,” reflects a broken Avicii.
Avicii says in “I’m Tim” ,“I tried so many different diets. I tried to working out..I even changed the way I toured. Maybe it’s too many decisions a day, maybe that’s the problem…****in’ all kinds of stupid shit that was…was never the problem.” Avicii continues, “It got to a point where I didn’t like it anymore.”
As Nile Rodgers points out in “True Stories”, “Tim’s life, almost revolves around him being able to create his own music. Was he doing that part to get to the concert, or was he doing it because he actually just loved making the music? I think he loved making the music.” Although we can never be sure what drove the music genius to take his own life, industry pressure and the feeling of a loss of identity might be an important factor. This along with his anxiety issues led him to abuse alcohol. The rest as they say was history.
RIP Avicii, We Love You!
Click here to watch “I’m Tim” full movie now!! (Netflix subscription required)
