I suppose nowadays we would call this a “mockumentary” about a chap who can be all things to all men except, perhaps, himself. It’s told using interviews, news reports and other actuality to regale us with the life and times of this man who somehow managed to infiltrate just about every scenario, strata of society and political grouping whilst altering his appearance to attain a consistent prominence even though his reasons for being where he was/is/would be were never quite clear to observers. Finally identified, he attracts the attention of psychiatrist “Dr. Fletcher” (Mia Farrow) who attempts to discover a little more about what drove this man. Is he an attention seeker or exactly the opposite? Does he need to stand out or simply want to conform? Either way, what he actually wanted had little to do with what he got as the publicity took his life by the scruff of the neck and embroiled him in a series of legal, ethical and practical issues. I wasn’t really bothered about the rather far-fetchedness of the plot nor of his fairly predictably evolving relationship with his shrink, but as a critique on documentary making and archive research, it’s an effective tool that also pays homage to the style of the silent film whilst showcasing the fickleness of public opinion and loyalty as well as demonstrating the hypocrisy of the media. It’s a bit long and once the direction of travel has been established then I found my interest was way more it’s delivery than it’s content. Worth a watch, though.

I suppose nowadays we would call this a “mockumentary” about a chap who can be all things to all men except, perhaps, himself. It’s told using interviews, news reports and other actuality to regale us with the life and times of this man who somehow managed to infiltrate just about every scenario, strata of society and political grouping whilst altering his appearance to attain a consistent prominence even though his reasons for being where he was/is/would be were never quite clear to observers. Finally identified, he attracts the attention of psychiatrist “Dr. Fletcher” (Mia Farrow) who attempts to discover a little more about what drove this man. Is he an attention seeker or exactly the opposite? Does he need to stand out or simply want to conform? Either way, what he actually wanted had little to do with what he got as the publicity took his life by the scruff of the neck and embroiled him in a series of legal, ethical and practical issues. I wasn’t really bothered about the rather far-fetchedness of the plot nor of his fairly predictably evolving relationship with his shrink, but as a critique on documentary making and archive research, it’s an effective tool that also pays homage to the style of the silent film whilst showcasing the fickleness of public opinion and loyalty as well as demonstrating the hypocrisy of the media. It’s a bit long and once the direction of travel has been established then I found my interest was way more it’s delivery than it’s content. Worth a watch, though.