Documentary Feature: Francophrenia (Or: Don't Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is)

James Franco in Francophrenia

Francophrenia (Or: Don't Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is)
Directed by: James Franco and Ian Olds
Starring: James Franco

Towards the end of multi-tasking actor James Franco's delightfully bizarre pseudo-documentary, his screen alter ego 'Franco' -- who narrates for nearly the full length of the feature -- muses, "The great thing about art is it's always open to interpretation." 


And, if nothing else, regardless of whether or not you enjoy this strange, experimental mock trip into an actors psyche, Francophrenia is definitely able to provide conversational fodder for the audience to discuss after the credits roll.

Back in 2009, Franco grabbed entertainment headlines for his WTF? decision to join the cast of the daytime soap General Hospital in a recurring stint as a serial killer visual artist named, yes, Franco. While many film enthusiasts and people in the industry likely rolled their eyes at the news of what they perceived as yet another gimmick from the notoriously strange actor, his fans (myself included) laughed it off as yet another one of his creative "fuck you's" to Hollywood. The end result was that Franco was able to seamlessly straddle two types of stardom for a couple of years: The sleek and classy 'movie star' who was nominated for an Oscar and the C-list 'soap actor' who mugged for the cameras while spouting inane lines like the one that provided his feature with its subtitle: "Don't kill me, I know where the baby is!"

Francophrenia is a mock doc co-directed by Franco and Ian Olds -- an experiment whittled down to a 70-minute run time from more than 40 hours of raw, unused footage culled from an episode of General Hospital set in L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art that never aired. However, the James Franco we watch in the beginning is eventually overcome by 'Franco', the neurotic killer he portrays onscreen. Once 'Franco' takes over and sinisterly narrates the rest of the picture, this meta-doc becomes a thought-provoking, yet playful, examination of identity through performance art.

James Franco as 'Franco' in General Hospital

It opens with James Franco: Movie Star. Shots of the actor cruising around the city with the top down. Franco wandering around labyrinthine hallways, on his way to the GH set. Franco greeting rabid fans lined up behind barricades. Dressed in a suit and ready to rehearse his lines, Franco slowly makes his way down the line of his expectant fans -- an extended scene with minimal dialogue that illustrates the tediousness and repetitiveness of an actors duty to obligingly sign autographs for complete strangers. Reminiscent of a scene out of a Sophia Coppola film, it's followed up with 'Franco's gradually emerging inner dialogue: "I'm all alone in this machine."

Later on, despite the amiable expression on his face, we see that 'Franco' is, in fact, revolted by the cast and crew around him. "What am I doing here?" he wonders. When a crew member comes over to touch him on the shoulder, 'Franco' hisses, "Don't touch me!" However, 'Franco' and his ego are continually knocked down a peg by the little faceless figures on the men's washroom sign -- as in, the actual icons you see on bathroom doors in restaurants. Their hilariously flippant remarks make for some of the film's highlights -- specifically when 'Franco' responds internally.

Pretentious? Perhaps. But kudos to James Franco for trying to be a unique, young voice in Hollywood. Francophrenia is as wonderfully vague, clever, alienating, odd and open to interpretation as Franco himself. I, for one, don't ever want him to change.

FINAL GRADE: B+

Documentary Feature: Fightville

Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier

Fightville (2011)
Directed by: Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein
Featuring: Dustin Poirier, Albert Stainback and Tim Credeur

I reviewed this film for Next Projection.

The ongoing controversy over violence and its place in the sporting world has left mixed marital arts with a stigma that will be hard to shake.

However, with the UFC rapidly expanding and growing in popularity, it's arguable that the debate surrounding it has, in some ways, been invaluable to its enduring popularity.

An oft-misunderstood sport that dates back centuries, mixed marital arts (MMA) takes a sort of pride in its focus on the primal urges we so often repress and refuse to acknowledge.

Coming off its Toronto premiere at the 2011 Hot Docs Film Festival, Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein's Fightville focuses on the physical and psychological toll that MMA takes on everyone involved — from the promoters and trainers, right down to the fighters themselves.

At the heart of the narrative are the people at the Gladiators Academy — a tiny gym next to a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in a rundown strip mall in southern Louisiana. Fight promoter Gil Guillory and trainer Tim Credeur are part of MMA USA, a grassroots organization that ultimately prepares their fighters for the glare of the UFC spotlight. Some succeed, while others falter.

Credeur makes it his personal mission to weed out the weak among his group. He waxes philosophical about the sport — he's the films biggest MMA cheerleader, connecting lessons learned in life to those that can be taught in the cage. A brutally honest coach who won't hesitate to teach with his own fists, he's a force to be reckoned with and anyone who survives and thrives under his leadership will usually wind up on the larger-scale MMA circuits.

The Gladiators Academy provides fulfillment for the two young men at the centre of the story — twenty-something's Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier and Albert Stainback. MMA is more than just a way for these young men to make money and put food on the table; for them it's an outlet to indulge in what they see as their only talent — and it's the main source of their pride.

With its thundering soundtrack, rousing fight sequences and assured camerawork, Fightville ultimately rests on the shoulders of the affable Poirier. Although he remains largely tight-lipped on his violent past, his focused intensity still gives way to a good-natured spirit.

Despite revelations of multiple run-ins with law in his youth, his mom steps up to the plate to express the pride she has in her son's complete character transformation — despite the noticeable worry lines still etched on her face.

Albert Stainback

Yet, where Poirier emerges as a star pupil under Credeur's tutelage (he's now a UFC featherweight), there's also those who flag under the immense pressure — and that's where Stainback enters the picture. Where Poirier is composed and disciplined (at one point losing 20 pounds in one week to qualify for a competition), Stainback fails to balance the full-time training demands and his personal issues. What with a horrific childhood involving an alcoholic mother and an abusive father who later committed suicide, Stainback takes on the stage persona of Alex DeLarge, the brutal hooligan at the centre of A Clockwork Orange.

What point is Stainback trying to get across? Is it meant to be ironic or is there something deeper to his selection? Unfortunately, viewers are left in the dark as his decision to don Alex's black bowler cap and white pantsuit is never addressed in the doc.

What holds Fightville back from being a true knockout is its lack of backstory. Far too many questions are left unanswered — or go unasked. While it offers a glimpse into the complicated behind-the-scenes world of MMA, it only scratches the surface of the grueling routine the fighters endure and the interesting connection between MMA and their troubled upbringings.

With the exception of Poirier's mother, who fills in some of the narrative gaps when it comes to her son, there are few secondary sources to provide insight into these two young men. Both are personable and have interesting stories to tell, but there are noticeable holes where more could have been asked of them.

While often fascinating and enjoyable, Fightville ultimately suffers from a lack of in depth personal stories from its central figures.

FINAL GRADE: B

Documentary Feature: Big Boys Gone Bananas!*

It was my birthday yesterday and, it being a Wednesday, I didn't exactly have any big plans set in stone until the weekend. Lucky for me, one of my colleagues invited me to the re-opening of the newly renovated Bloor Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto.

The documentary that was scheduled to be screened was kept secret, the only clue being that it had premiered recently at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. Therefore, I wasn't able to properly prepare by watching Bananas!*, the 2009 documentary by Swedish filmmaker Fredrik Gertten, beforehand. The premise of the original doc: Lawyer Juan Dominguez represented 12 Nicaraguan banana plantation workers who took fruit titan Dole Food Company to court for their use of a banned pesticide the workers claimed caused sterility. Dole was subsequently found guilty in a Los Angeles courtroom.

In his 2011 follow-up, Big Boys Gone Bananas!*, Gertten chronicles his legal battles with Dole. The corporate giant used scare tactics and bullying for nearly a year to suppress the release of Gertten's film. Despite having never seen the doc, Dole claimed it was filled with lies and inaccurate information provided by the Nicaraguan workers. Dole proceeded to write letters to everyone from the L.A. Film Festival (who was set to premiere the documentary) to Swedish journalists covering the story. When Gertten refused to withdraw his film from the L.A. film fest, Dole started legal proceedings to sue the filmmaker and his producer, Margarete Jangard, for defamation. Shocked by their scare tactics, Gertten counter-sued, knowing full-well that his likelihood of success against the giant corporation was low. However, through sheer determination and an unwillingness to bend to pressure (and, with a little help from Swedish MP's), Gertten was awarded $200,000 from Dole after the company finally withdrew its lawsuit in late 2009. It was a massive victory for a small filmmaker and, more importantly, a victory for freedom of speech.

What makes the doc so fascinating is how far Dole was willing to go to censor the film -- at one point they were willing to let the film screen if certain scenes were edited out. It's no surprise that Dole was upset by the film -- anyone willing to tackle such a big court case that involves a corporate titan has to be somewhat prepared for backlash. However, it's the incessant bullying, verging on taunting at times, that is truly shocking. Witnessing Dole trying to control free speech is unsettling, to say the least. Therefore, the outcome reached in Gertten's favour is all the more satisfying. 

After the screening, the audience was treated to a Q&A session with the genial Swedish director via a Skype transmission on the big screen. It was such a treat to listen to him speak about his work.

If you get the chance to watch this riveting documentary, please do! It unfolds like a thriller and it's an absolute must-see, especially for up-and-coming documentary filmmakers looking to tackle big subjects involving giant corporate powers.