And it all seems larger than life to me

Julia Parnell, director of The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, with Phillipps. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

I've read scores of supposedly tell-all biographies, including the gritty Keith Richards tome, and viewed countless rockumentaries, but none of them prepared me for The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, writes Tony Nielsen.

Two years ago Dunedin's Martin Phillipps and his UK based record company, Fire, approached Julia Parnell of Notable Features about creating a documentary of his band the Chills.

Parnell is an accomplished and successful director and producer, with a special passion for stories about musicians.

"So, I flew to Dunedin to meet Martin, and I felt something and so began the desire to tell Martin's story. I also fell in love with Dunedin," she said.

"I felt that Martin was at a major crossroads, and hopefully ready to make changes, and also ready to document his mistakes and recovery.

Martin Phillipps with the jumper featured in The Chills' 'Pink Frost' single.

"The first shoot was going to his doctor with him and hearing him learning that he had six months to live if he didn't immediately address the health issues which had come about through his addictions and unhealthy lifestyle."

The end result is intimate, confrontational and compulsive viewing.

From the start, Phillipps had made the decision to be totally honest about his failings. It would be raw, brutal and as the movie shows, extremely brave.

The 54-year-old doesn't hide from his blackest moments, and even takes us to the doctor's appointment in which he is delivered the "change or die" advice. To be told he has six months to live is not something many of us would want to share, but Phillipps does.

"Having been convinced that I could work with Martin and together we could make a compelling documentary, my next challenge was to find funding partners to finance the film," Parnell said.

"We started in the States with a Kickstarter (their equivalent of Givealittle) and I immediately became aware of the international following that the Chills still have."

The Film Commission and NZ On Air were next to come on board. There was also a broadcast commitment, and support from private investors.

"At that time Martin and the Chills had released the album Silver Bullets but he wasn't in great shape.

"The documentary takes us to some very dark places, as he faces his demons, although he was making a lot of excuses still.

"He was critically aware that the Chills missed the boat on a number of occasions because of his bad habits. And that realisation weighed heavy on him.

"He seemed to be willing to face up to what he had and hadn't done, so it's a very personal story.

Martin Phillipps gave the filmmakers extremely personal access to his life.

"Even though he was battling his dire health outlook, I really came to appreciate his unique approach to creativity," Parnell said.

"Gradually though, especially when he began a new treatment for hepatitis C, his confidence grew and I could sense that he was starting to feel some sense of redemption."

Luckily for Phillipps, he was approved to receive a new treatment for hepatitis C - daily pills at $1000 a pop with no certainty of a positive outcome.

While it was sometimes hard for Phillipps to rise above the health issues, Parnell observes, mostly he did, carried along in part by the creative energies flowing around his next album, Snow Bound.

"His wry sense of humour also gave us many occasions for laughter.

"The record Silver Bullets released a year earlier had been his first album in 20 years so he had a stable Chills line-up and was in the process of relaunching his creative spark."

Parnell said she spent a lot of time at Phillipps' house, listening to his new material and being introduced to his numerous collections.

"To say that he is an obsessive hoarder is the understatement of the year. His home is chocka - full with his collections of toys. He opened this drawer and it was packed full of trolls and I just fell about laughing. He's since given me two and they have pride of place in my office."

A still from the documentary.

Parnell says another ground-breaking aspect of the documentary is that Phillipps gave the film-makers complete freedom to talk to other people.

"He must have known that there would be things former band members would say that wouldn't be kind. A lot of people were really hurt by his behaviour, and some of them are still dealing with that hurt. It was brave of him to allow us to do that."

Since the band started 39 years ago, 32 musicians have served a tour of duty in the Chills.

Parnell says her favourite aspect of the film is the many times Phillipps was filmed just playing by himself.

"There are lots of killer performances.

"The two years was such a roller-coaster, the health stuff, trying to make music, trying to get tours. Martin says it's two of the most dramatic years of his life, so that's saying something."

The film is also generously peppered with live performances of the Chills across the decades.

Fortunately, The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps has a good ending.

There's no doubt it was cathartic for Phillipps, Parnell says.

After his recent tour to the US with the Chills, the international premiere of the documentary at SXWX and the overwhelmingly positive feedback that followed have allowed him to move forward, she says.