It’s day 3 of #MFF2016 for me, and it started with a truly different documentary from the Documentary Film Favorites slate called Nuts!, directed by Penny Lane (try getting that song out of your head now… I can’t) which tells the strange story of J.R. Brinkley, a man who opened a chemist shop in Milford, Kansas in the 1920’s and shortly thereafter began performing surgeries that involved transplanting goat testicles into men’s testicles in an effort to increase their virility. In an effort to advertise his services, he started one of the first radio stations in the country that became at one time, the most popular and powerful stations in the world.
After being stripped of his medical license by the American Medical Association for “quackery” he moved on to run for Governor of Kansas and invent other tonics for people’s ailments. The film climaxes (forgive the pun) with a libel trial that goes completely different from expected, exposing a lot more about Brinkley than he probably intended.
Nuts! is filled with animation, which is becoming an increasingly popular medium in documentaries. Because much of the story does not have many supporting archival photos or footage, the animation is somewhat appropriate but jarring in that the style is constantly changing. Instead of lending visual interest to the film, it’s a little jarring. Even more jarring and frankly really obnoxious were the affected voices used during many of the reenactments; it’s like someone reading a child a story and trying to do different voices but just coming off as weird instead of entertaining.
Unfortunately, the story of J.R. Brinkley does not get interesting until near the end of the film when it actually gets quite good. And while the revelations during the last part of the film made me reflect on the previous hour, it didn’t make up for the fact that I was actually pretty bored through most of the film.
Perhaps it’s because I had no idea what I was walking into; I didn’t have the first clue what the film was about, just that it was on my viewing schedule. But that’s not really good enough – regardless of prior knowledge, a truly successful film should hold one’s attention for at least an hour, and it just didn’t. If I could give a film a 1/2 point I would rate Nuts! with a 2 1/2 out of 5, but I can’t, so I have to give it a 2 out of 5. View the trailer and find information on future screenings.
P.S. You’re welcome for searching You Tube for the trailer link. Typing in “Nuts!” afforded me all kinds of videos offering to show me bros kicking each other in the nads. I won’t even describe what I found using Google Image Search.
My second film of the day was also a “Documentary Festival Favorite” and was soooo different from what I had seen earlier. Kedi is directed by Ceyda Torun and is a film about cats in Istanbul. It turns out that there are hundreds of thousands of cats in Istanbul that are street cats; they’re not feral, but they’re not house cats either. Instead they pretty much run free in the streets of the city, but many of them come home to people who care for them but generally don’t “own” them. Until you see it in action, it’s a hard concept to grasp, but when you do see it? It’s fascinating.
Several people are interviewed about their cats, and they lovingly talk about their personalities which are all varied, yet strangely human. It’s not just the cats that have different personality traits: their “humans” also wildly vary, from a shop owner who cares for a cat and her kittens to a grizzled fisherman who found a box of kittens and now feeds them milk with a syringe in order to keep them alive.
There’s two women who prepare 20 pounds of chicken every day to feed dozens of cats in their home and surrounding neighborhood, and a man who walks around the city giving food to all of the cats who come running when they see him. These individuals are all different but most share a common fragility, be it past physical or mental illness or personal tragedy that were all eased by caring for and loving their cats.
Kedi (“cat” in Turkish) isn’t just beautiful because of its personal stories, it’s beautifully shot and showcases a gorgeous ancient city. The real stars of course are the cats themselves, and the camera just loves them. If you’re a cat lover like me, this film is pure eye candy from start to finish. I can’t even count how many times I said “AWW!!” in my head, or “Kitty!” I’m not going to lie, unless you’re into cats, you may not “get” Kedi. While animal lovers probably like cats, cat lovers are a breed onto themselves and this film may not be interesting to many because it really is a niche film.
But whether or not you love cats, the relationships these very independent cats have with other cats and humans is really quite fascinating to watch. I was also struck by how nonplussed the cats were around so much noise and people. They were completely unaffected by the cameras to the point of indifference, and literally were socializing with complete strangers. I’ve had less intimate relationships with friends’ cats that I’ve seen dozens of times because they scatter or whatever.
Personally, as the mother of two gorgeous kitties (shout out to Atticus and Margo!) the thought of letting my cats outside gives me hives, (I won’t even let them near a door I’m walking in or out of) so that was anxiety I had to try to get over while watching the film.
I really enjoyed Kedi for its beautiful photography, study of animal behavior and of course, the gorgeous cats. This was another film I was completely clueless about when I sat down to watch it and I am so pleased that I saw it. I gave it a rating of 4 out of 5. View the trailer (and try not to squeal too much) and find information on the one remaining screening at the festival here.
thecinemaphile 