Trekkies

Director: Roger Nygard
(1997)

It was Mark Twain who mused, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't.” Documentaries are often captivating because they highlight some of the more unbelievable corners of our society. Trekkies is a glorious character-driven documentary about the whimsical world of Star Trek fanatics.

Trekkies (or Trekkers, depending on who you ask) come from all walks of life, and a motley sample of them are featured in the film; the juror who showed up to court in her Starfleet uniform and insists on being called commander; the dentist who dubbed his office “Starfleet Dental” and forced his assistants to dress in Star Trek garb; the Klingon community; the Brent Spiner fanatic (“Spiner Femme”) who has scores of strikingly similar pictures of the actor speaking on stage that she keeps in a fire-proof safe.



One of the main characters of the film was Gabriel Köerner (featured in the video clip above), a teenaged Trekkie who seemed to exhibit a healthy obsession with the films, perhaps because adolescents can get away with more fanatical interests. His appreciation for Star Trek fueled his curiosity and inspired him to design a three-dimensional spacecraft on his home computer and start a club at his school that sought to produce a Star Trek film of their own. Not surprisingly, after the film’s release, Köerner was able to parlay his hobby into a career. He went on to become a successful visual effects artist, and even accomplished the ultimate dream by working on the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise.

Director Roger Nygard avoids editorializing about the mental state of his subjects. In fact, the majority of Trekkies are portrayed as intelligent professionals who happen to have a love for the Gene Roddenberry franchise. However, by virtue of them simply appearing on camera, some of the hard-core fanatics in the film come across as unhealthily obsessed, or deranged nearly to the point of psychosis. While this is a very small group, it is this minority that many people associate with all Star Trek fans.

Inside the Starfleet Dental office

Denise Crosby was enlisted to “host” the film. Because Crosby starred as Security Chief Tasha Yar on the first season of Star Trek: Then Next Genereation (TNG), she is well known to Star Trek fans. This probably helped the Trekkies feel more comfortable in interviews, and helped them to open up on camera.

Character-driven documentaries are some of the most entertaining films out there. Trekkies does not disappoint, featuring individuals that could have been created for a Christopher Guest mockumentary (a la Best In Show & A Mighty Wind). It’s a hilarious look at some of the most dedicated fans in the world. It is sure to entertain, even if you have no idea who Captain James T. Kirk is.

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Trivial Tidbits:

• "Filking" is a term to describe playing or writing music about Star Trek
  
• Evidently Al Gore is a Trekkie: "He watched the show more than he studied, according to his Harvard University roommate Tommy Lee Jones."

Nanook of the North

Documentary film icon Robert Joseph Flaherty (1884-1951) started his career as an explorer and prospector in the remote Hudson Bay region of northeastern Canada. Before his third expedition to the area, his boss, railroad tycoon William Mackenzie, serendipitously suggested he bring a camera with him to document the unfamiliar territory. Flaherty embraced the idea, shooting hours of incredible footage of the native Inuit people. The ensuing film, Nanook of The North (1922), is regarded as the first ever feature-length documentary.



Flaherty quickly ascertained the mechanisms of cinema. He realized that if he were to capture shots such as reverse angles, close-ups, and various deliberate camera movements, he would be able to edit them together to offer a hyper-realistic vision of reality that was unknown to audiences of that time. We take these sequences for granted today, but Flaherty was one of the first to master how to use film as a means of communication.

It has been the day of days. Morning came clear and warm. Some twenty walrus lay sleeping on the rocks. Approached to within 100 ft & filmed with telephoto lens. Nan stalking quarry with harpoon - within 20 ft they rose in alarm and tumbled toward the sea. Nan's harpoon landed but the quarry succeeded in reaching the water. Then commenced a battle royal - & Esk straining for their lives on the harpoon line at water's edge - this quarry like a huge fish floundering - churning in the sea - The remainder of the herd hovered around - their "Ok ok!" resounding - one great bull even came in to quarry & locked horns in attempt to rescue - I filmed and filmed and filmed - The men - calling me to end the struggle by rifle - so fearful were they about being pulled into sea.

Robert Flaherty
September 26, 1920

Yet he did not offer assistance with his firearm. He wanted to portray the men the way they had lived in generations past, so he continued to shoot film as they struggled with the harpooned beast on the water's edge. Much of the film exhibits elements of Romanticism in this manner. While this philosophy has garnered some criticism, Flaherty would certainly not be the last filmmaker to attempt to pass off a slightly distorted truth as reality.

Trivial Tidbits:

• Flaherty Island, one of the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay, is named in his honor.

Quote Source:

• Barnouw, Erik. Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

When You're Strange

Director: Tom DiCillo
(2010)

When You're Strange is billed as an objective portrayal of The Doors. Manzarek, Krieger, and Densmore all avoided involvement in the production of the film in order to preserve an honest representation of the band. Prior to its release, the only cinematic record of the band was Oliver Stone’s 1991 biopic, which was heavily criticized for its factual inaccuracies. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek noted, “This is the anti-Oliver Stone. This will be the true story of the Doors."



All of the footage found in the film was shot between 1966 and 1971. DiCillo was wise to avoid the temptation to shoot interviews with the surviving members of the group: an easy to generate content for such a film. Jim Morrison himself will always be remembered as a youthful figure. By not including any recently shot talking heads with the other members of the band, he allows the audience to fully remember them the way they had been in their 1960s prime.

When You’re Strange was screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and had originally featured narration by DiCillo himself. While receiving overall positive reviews, audiences criticized the director’s droning monotone. The film was then redubbed using the voice of Johnny Depp in advance of the April 2010 release. Depp’s velvety voice would be a benefit to any narration, as it certainly is to this film.

The film portrays Morrison as an enigma, a loose canon, a heavy drinker, an outsider who fed off of the love of the audience. One takeaway is how stressful it must have been to be a non-Jim Morrison member of the doors. Playing a riff over and over as Jim lay on the floor of the stage, hopeful that he’ll get back on his feet and continue singing.

Some have criticized the film for its lack of fresh content. However, When You’re Strange does contain rare footage from Morrison’s 1969 experimental film: HWY: An American Pastoral. Furthermore, the film is edited brilliantly in a way that offers a comprehensive history of the band, and an analysis of Morrison that had previously been unavailable.

official film site

Trivial Tidbits:

• "If the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.” -William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
• Morrison was sentenced to 6 months in prison and a $500 fine for his alleged antics at the infamous March 1, 1969 concert in Miami, but died in Paris before he could serve the sentence.