Mister Organ

Holy crap, I went into this the same way I went into David Farrier's other documentary Tickled...without knowing much at all about it. And I was again in awe by the end of it.

In parts I was cackling so hard (the whole cinema was). In other parts I gasped so loudly. In others I felt dread. I felt scared, sad, bewilderment. Basically anything and everything you can feel.

The subject of this documentary is just plain impossible to explain. We saw David trying to explain him and he couldn't either. But he's narcissistic, manipulative and downright strange. He's also the most boring hilarious person in the world. All of this combined made for a very interesting story with lots of little twists and turns.

I don't know how David finds these people but he manages to make the most insightful documentaries while putting himself in danger, and I commend him for that!

I can't wait for his next movie!

I remember liking Tickled many years ago, but Mister Organ I thought was even better as a documentary, and I think it's shown David Farrier to be more than just a one-trick pony (though it does have the same kind of mix of suspense, intrigue, and tension that Tickled had, just stronger).

It starts a little too chaotically for my liking, but after about 10 or 15 minutes it settles into a groove and starts feeling baffling in the right kind of way. Maybe some of the opening scenes were supposed to get your head spinning right away, but I think I would've liked a slightly more patient build-up to the central premise. But once it does get underway, Mister Organ is fascinating, even when the director admits that he doesn't know where anything's going or how he can even end the documentary he set out to make.

It's an exploration of a very unusual and rather terrifying individual, and the way it functions as a character study of this man makes Mister Organ feel more intense than a good many genuine thrillers. It's the kind of movie where I feel a little worried even saying anything about it, due to the man at its center. I doubt he'd ever read this, but I still don't want to speculate on the man beyond what's presented in this documentary; partly out of fear, but also partly because this is the kind of film that should be watched without knowing much about it in advance. I went in thinking it was going to be about organ transplants in some way, and no... it wasn't that at all.

It's on Netflix currently in Australia, and I only shout out the streaming service because this is one of the few documentaries on there that's genuinely great, straight-to-the-point, and keen to tell its story in just 90-ish minutes. Certain documentaries need longer runtimes, but most documentaries on Netflix don't, and are needlessly padded out to be told in three to four-hour miniseries rather than 90 to 120-minute movies (a big reason why I just stopped watching most documentaries on the platform, be they hosted on there or produced by Netflix itself). Anyway, Mister Organ's one of the good ones currently on Aus Netflix, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys unusual and captivating documentary filmmaking.

If someone hasn't ran into someone like this they will never ever understand this documentary. People that have ran into these types with personality disorders will get it. I have never wrote a review I just wanted to let people know what's up about this film.

So the best way of putting this are men like Michael are also known as con artists, and unfortunately that is the best way of describing him. I doubt we will know much about his family history unless he does something very bad and gets out behind bars. Then they might be able explain it if that happens. Maybe there will be a part two. That would be very interesting to say the least.

People like Michael confuse people on purpose to make themselves feel more lifting up.

Once you have seen this personally you will never unsee it by doing tons of research. FYI.

In 1977, Michel Foucault - who at the time was France's foremost intellectual - wrote a preface for a book that never materialised. His essay was called "The life of infamous men." The book was to be a collection of excerpts from so-called lettres des cachets - complaints that 18th Century French citizens could submit to the king about the behavior of a relative, spouse, neighbour or acquantance. From his Paris apartment, Foucault spoke about these lives rising up through the centuries. Lives condemned in a few words. Despicable personages. Scriveners. Lecherers. Fantastical usurers.

Foucault admited to being more moved by these characters than by the canonical tomes of official history. In their blasted and blighted lives, he found points of fascination, and one could say more; he appeared to find a wellspring of uncanny understanding, about the human condition, about human life, about the architecture of knowledge and power that envelopes and saturates all of us, and about the straight and narrow line that runs through the decades, and around which human life gathers as it veers toward an unnameable norm.

I was reminded of this essay and Foucault's feeling towards these extra-ordinary figures while watching David Farrier's documentary. It is a glimpse into a substrate of human life that reverberates almost as the mirror opposite of the branded celebrity culture we all know. A substrate of disorder and fanastical absurdity, and that is as colored by malevolence as it is quaint and incredible mundanity.

Lachlan Anderson's soundtrack is perfectly pitched. It captures an emotional landscape that magnifies the question marks thrown open by the film. But what deserves more praise still is the gentle openness of Farrier himself, as a protagonist in this entire work. He seems to share something with Foucault that allows the film to be made at all. Because whereas many might back away from the subject of the documentary, Mr Organ, or respond aggressively to his behavior, Farrier approaches him as something curious and worthy of being known. And yet that does not constitute condoning Mr Organ's apparent actions. So it is less about passing judgment as it is putting into the spotlight one unique and troubled character, and yet letting that character have their say.

What emerges is beyond fascinating. It's a true document that casts light on many things it would be impossible to express in words alone. In the editing, in the camera work, in the narrative, a consciousness about what is so remarkable in this story appears evident. It is this consciousness that deserves recognition. Because there is a humanism here that goes beyond mere gesture. It's real, and it brought something to light that we can all ponder, and probably learn from. What do we learn exactly. There is wonder everywhere, even amid what is distasteful and disturbing. We share this world with multiple worlds, and amid tremendous latent chaos.

The more I went down the rabbit hole the more interesting it got. Extremely well put together documentary about a wheel clamper but as the intro says, there's much more to this story than meets the eye. The story is intriguing and plays out much like a good whodunnit. I hear there's another documentary out by this same producer so I am going to have to source it after watching this one. Thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish. Full of twists and turns and wtf's? Almost a comedy but for the dark side of the whole story. Keeps the viewer wanting more. Highly recommend this to any armchair sleuths out there and even if you're not I think you will still enjoy it.