November 4, 2025
FILM: I AM CURIOUS JOHNNY
DIRECTED BY: JULIEN TEMPLE
STARRING: JOHNNY PIGOZZI, MICHAEL DOUGLAS, MICK JAGGER
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
How about watching a documentary about a guy you may have never heard of? I’ve no doubt that some people won’t even read this review because they have no idea who Johnny Pigozzi is. Frankly, I hadn’t heard of him either but he shot photos of some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, developed a friendship with Michael Douglas and Mick Jagger, and made so much money he bought his own island with 10,000 acres. So, yes, he’s an interesting character who some have called the “father of the selfie” and this film is pretty fun and entertaining as it follows him throughout his life.
Born Jean Pigozzi in France, Johnny’s father created the model SIMCA car, which truthfully I’d never heard of either before this film. There are uses of it though in numerous movies from the 1960s and 70s, especially in the work of French director Jacques Tati. As Johnny grew up he decided to take photos and eventually home movies to document his life. These images form the basis of the documentary. As such, there is archival footage and photos from his childhood and when appropriate images don’t exist, director Julien Temple (creator of numerous music videos and films such as Earth Girls Are Easy and Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten) includes footage from Hollywood and other existing movies to fill in the gap. It’s actually a pretty clever approach to telling a biographical story. As the film goes on, Temple, most likely working with Johnny, incorporates artificial intelligence to bring to life childhood Johnny as well as his now deceased father. They eerily speak to present day Johnny and ask him questions about his life.
Johnny’s story is told though, using a fairly standard chronological structure. Along the way, he plays an interviewer who interviews himself to guide us through some of the major points in his life. It’s rarely dull as the film is very briskly edited. The various interviews included were conducted via Zoom during the pandemic. We hear, for instance, Martha Stewart calling him the “father of the selfie” and Douglas and Jagger asking him questions rather than the other way around. Clearly they were all quite taken with Johnny and spent a fair amount of time with him (Jagger traveled to Greenland with him.)
In addition to these celebs, Johnny had associations with everyone from Andy Warhol to Diane von Furstenberg. Warhol was said to have told him to always have a camera in his pocket, which he did, thus capturing great selfies with some of the world’s biggest stars. This even got him a few brief roles in films such as A Man in Love (1987) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010.)
Later, the documentary explores his passion for art, artists, and women. He never married but apparently remained friends with many of his female lovers. These more recent sequences last a bit longer than necessary even though it is fascinating to see his greatest creation: the home he built on his privately-owned island. By this point the film, like Johnny, indulges a bit heavily as it documents his excesses. One might be left wondering, why this guy is significant enough to warrant our time and be the subject of an entire documentary film.
The fact is that he is a unique character who has done a lot of interesting things in his life. There’s nothing particularly revelatory about him or even culturally significant. Did he really invent the selfie? Maybe not. At least Martha Stewart thinks he did. Rather, the film is an exploration of how one man created a pretty extravagant life by focusing on his favorite subject: himself.
I Am Curious Johnny is now streaming on HBO Max.
FILM: I AM CURIOUS JOHNNY
DIRECTED BY: JULIEN TEMPLE
STARRING: JOHNNY PIGOZZI, MICHAEL DOUGLAS, MICK JAGGER
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
How about watching a documentary about a guy you may have never heard of? I’ve no doubt that some people won’t even read this review because they have no idea who Johnny Pigozzi is. Frankly, I hadn’t heard of him either but he shot photos of some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, developed a friendship with Michael Douglas and Mick Jagger, and made so much money he bought his own island with 10,000 acres. So, yes, he’s an interesting character who some have called the “father of the selfie” and this film is pretty fun and entertaining as it follows him throughout his life.
Born Jean Pigozzi in France, Johnny’s father created the model SIMCA car, which truthfully I’d never heard of either before this film. There are uses of it though in numerous movies from the 1960s and 70s, especially in the work of French director Jacques Tati. As Johnny grew up he decided to take photos and eventually home movies to document his life. These images form the basis of the documentary. As such, there is archival footage and photos from his childhood and when appropriate images don’t exist, director Julien Temple (creator of numerous music videos and films such as Earth Girls Are Easy and Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten) includes footage from Hollywood and other existing movies to fill in the gap. It’s actually a pretty clever approach to telling a biographical story. As the film goes on, Temple, most likely working with Johnny, incorporates artificial intelligence to bring to life childhood Johnny as well as his now deceased father. They eerily speak to present day Johnny and ask him questions about his life.
Johnny’s story is told though, using a fairly standard chronological structure. Along the way, he plays an interviewer who interviews himself to guide us through some of the major points in his life. It’s rarely dull as the film is very briskly edited. The various interviews included were conducted via Zoom during the pandemic. We hear, for instance, Martha Stewart calling him the “father of the selfie” and Douglas and Jagger asking him questions rather than the other way around. Clearly they were all quite taken with Johnny and spent a fair amount of time with him (Jagger traveled to Greenland with him.)
In addition to these celebs, Johnny had associations with everyone from Andy Warhol to Diane von Furstenberg. Warhol was said to have told him to always have a camera in his pocket, which he did, thus capturing great selfies with some of the world’s biggest stars. This even got him a few brief roles in films such as A Man in Love (1987) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010.)
Later, the documentary explores his passion for art, artists, and women. He never married but apparently remained friends with many of his female lovers. These more recent sequences last a bit longer than necessary even though it is fascinating to see his greatest creation: the home he built on his privately-owned island. By this point the film, like Johnny, indulges a bit heavily as it documents his excesses. One might be left wondering, why this guy is significant enough to warrant our time and be the subject of an entire documentary film.
The fact is that he is a unique character who has done a lot of interesting things in his life. There’s nothing particularly revelatory about him or even culturally significant. Did he really invent the selfie? Maybe not. At least Martha Stewart thinks he did. Rather, the film is an exploration of how one man created a pretty extravagant life by focusing on his favorite subject: himself.
I Am Curious Johnny is now streaming on HBO Max.