Mister Organ: Movie Review

Director: David Farrier

Tickled director David Farrier's latest is an intriguing affair, an exploration of what happens when a filmmaker becomes too attached to its subject and what happens when the strands of reality become too far entangled to unwind.

As ever with Farrier's intrigue at falling down a rabbit hole, it's the story of how he spent 5 years investigating what would appear to have been a simple case of a bully overzealously clamping people outside an Auckland shop which developed into a toxic relationship that may have you in mind of Louis Theroux's investigative friendship with Jimmy Savile.

As Farrier investigates Michael Organ the man behind the clamping farrago, a trail of victims whose lives have been irrevocably ruined by this narcissist begin to emerge - and much like a moth to a flame, Farrier edges closer into Organ's orbit with no real indication he's able to pull out.

The initially frivolous edges of Mister Organ soon give way to a darker tinged piece that really start to show Farrier coming unhinged, rather than his documentary subject. It's a fascinating insight into how obsession can unravel, and it's genuinely upsetting to see this documentary maker almost destroyed by half a decade's worth of time consumed.

Whilst the doco makes strenuous mention of the time involved, there's little indication of how that's played out on screen, which makes it akin to feeling like Farrier's time with Organ has happened over a week period. While that doesn't detract from his vulnerability, some sense of a time frame would have helped Mister Organ achieve an even more sinister effect.

Wondrously helmed by DP Dominic Fryer, what is really a series of meetings between two people sparkles on screen. The mundanities of small town New Zealand look astonishingly realised, and the seedy underbelly of the world comes to the fore.

There are some frustrations - chiefly, there's never really a sense of understanding why Farrier continues to pursue his subject for years other than to get some answers and because he "really winds up" Farrier himself. 

Hints of trouble come from interview subjects who don't really want to be on camera - and an inference one person in Organ's orbit committed suicide because of him is never really addressed directly by its accused.

Yet conversely, it's in these moments the film does come alive though - a sense of a Damocles sword above Farrier's head that he's made for himself, and a tangible feeling that he's never really in control of proceedings - or depressingly, the narrative itself - as he hopes to crack the seemingly dangerous and toxic enigma of Organ. 

Best seen unresearched and a depressing portrait of narcissism in its many forms - both in and behind the camera - Mister Organ may leave you with more questions than answers ultimately, but it's a troubling journey that provides no real resolution and leaves you dangling, desperate - and yet terrified - for more.