Well, we're still in lockdown... in Wales, at least .So here's a seventh instalment of The Watchers' Feelgood Films, where we'll give you some suggestions or recommendation for films that might cheer you up if you're locked down.
Today, it's a Matt-Tez sandwich (ooer, missus!) with three more documentary films that'll make you feel good.
Man on Wire (2008)
Dir: James Marsh
Starring: Philippe Petit, Jean-François Heckel, and Jean-Louis Blondeau
Man on Wire is a real-life heist film. It’s not money the robbers are after, but “the artistic crime of the century”.
In 1974, Philippe Petit broke into and tightrope walked between New York’s Twin Towers with no safety net, nothing to break his fall, just a 1,780-foot drop. James Marsh’s film is the story of how Petit accomplished this literally death-defying feat.
Everything – the set ups, the pacing, the music – makes Man on Wire feel like a primetime TV thriller. You know Petit achieves what he set out to do, but Marsh creates a real tension throughout. Time and again, Petit and his gang are nearly caught, their plans foiled, but miraculously dodge security.
Man on Wire is emotional as well as thrilling. Several members of Petit’s group bow out because, as one puts it, “I don’t want to be responsible for the death of a friend”. As Petit and his cohorts reminisce, there is the knowing that, tragically, this is a feat that can never be repeated.
While Nixon, Watergate, and the seedy workings of the White House were exposed to the world, here was a man who literally rose above it all to accomplish his dream. It’s no understatement to say that Man on Wire is a film you must see.
Matt
* * *
The Aristocrats (2005)
Dir: Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza
Starring: George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Bob Saget, and Gilbert Gottfried
What's the filthiest joke you know? I think mine involves a cheating husband and a parrot who used to live in a brothel... but whatever it is, I can guarantee you, it won't be as filthy as 'The Aristocrats'.
A joke that's been told from the early days of vaudeville up to the present day (and apparently Johnny Carson's favourite joke), the set-up and punchline are set. A guy goes into a talent agent's office and says to the agent "Have I got an act for you!". He proceeds to describe an act full of the most vulgar, deviant, disgusting acts known to man or beast (sometimes even involving man and beast, depending on who is telling the joke). When he finishes, the agent- either shellshocked and utterly appalled, or massively intrigued- says "what do you call an act like that?" The punchline is... "The Aristocrats".
It's the middle section (discussing the content of the act) where comedians can get inventive, creative, and just downright obscene. In this jawdropping documentary, one hundred comedians- including such comic luminaries as George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, and Phyllis Diller- discuss, analyse, deconstruct and deliver their own versions of the world's dirtiest joke.
The very definition of a one-joke film, the documentary is certainly not for the fainthearted, prudish, conservative, or easily outraged. Some of the acts described are beyond the bounds of acceptable human decency. Some of the topics raised would definitely fall under the category of "things you shouldn't joke about"; as Gilbert Gottfried says "You can put people to death for what goes on in the best versions of this joke!"
But the point is this: this was never meant to be a joke told to an audience as part of a set (audiences would be rightly offended and probably walk out if even five percent of some of the renditions ended up on stage); instead, it was used as a warm-up exercise and an inside joke among comedians, a playful competition to try and outdo one another. And the variations of the joke between each comic sheds a fascinating light on how comedy works, when and how to push the boundaries, what's acceptable... and what's not.
Gottfried is, as you'd expect, an exception to the "don't-tell-it-in-public" rule: in fact, the joke became well-known in the mainstream when he delivered a masterclass rendition of it at a Comedy Central/New York Friars' Club roast of Hugh Hefner recorded just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, to win back an audience he'd lost by making a crass joke about the World Trade Center (to boos and cries of "toon soon" from the audience). Of course, when the Roast was broadcast on television, this section was almost entirely censored: as Gottfried himself said "They might have to clean this up". Watching The Aristocrats, you'll see why...
Of course, whilst a lot of the film is fairly base in its relentless litany of bodily fluids, incest, bestiality, and murder (which will be wearying for some), there's some interesting variations- one told by a mime artist, for instance, another by a ventriloquist, and there's an interesting subversion of the joke when Wendy Liebman and T. Sean Shannon describe very genteel acts with very offensive names. There's also some fascinating discussions about the art of crafting a joke.
This won't be for everyone. You need to have a firm stomach and a fairly lax sense of humour for this to be enjoyable. But for fans of comedy and fans of how comedy works (even for people interested in the psychology of comedians), this is one of the rare occasions where comparing examining a joke to dissecting a frog- i.e. you find out how it works but the frog dies- doesn't come into play.
Tez
* * *
Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
Dir: Malik Bendjelloul
Starring: Sixto Rodriguez, Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, Ilse Assmann, Craig Bartholomew-Strydom, and Malik Bendjelloul
Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary is about a musician, but it’s not exclusively for music buffs. Searching for Sugar Man is a mystery, a tale of second chances and redemption.
Back in the sixties, Detroit singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez began a promising music career only to vanish, never seen nor heard from again. Rodriguez became a riddle, a puzzle to solve; there were rumours that he killed himself on stage, but there was never any proof. During its 90 minutes, Bendjelloul investigates what happened to this enigmatic artist. Bendjelloul’s journey, where he ends up, is genuinely moving and uplifting. I have seen Searching for Sugar Man several times and have yet to watch it from beginning to end without crying.
Bendjelloul discovers that Rodriguez, the man and his music, became a figurehead, the soundtrack for those in South Africa fighting against apartheid. He was the voice of a generation; loved and understood by people thousands of miles from Detroit.
Searching for Sugar Man would be a brilliant film if it stopped there. What happens next is something that would play out in a soaring, classic Oscar winner.
As well as the film, you need to give the soundtrack a go; Rodriguez’s music is gorgeously laidback and uplifting.
If you have never seen Searching for Sugar Man, avoid the internet and watch it being blissfully unaware of its subject. There is a reason why this film ends up in top ten documentary lists, when the credits roll you will be left beaming and drying your eyes.
Matt
