Some great mockumentaries

Kara schlegl looks back on some of the best mockumentaries to grace the silver screen.

THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984) The mother of all ‘rockumentaries’, this legendary comedy follows an over-the-hill English hair metal band as they attempt an ill-advised comeback tour. A satire of an unwashed, vainglorious music industry, the film was famously whittled down from hundreds of hours of improvised footage by director Rob Reiner – who also headed up The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally – and is yet another classic in his catalogue of movies that shaped Hollywood, turning the mockumentary genre up to 11 at the box office. Though the band members are portrayed as madcap buffoons who occasionally self-combust, the film itself is thoroughly convincing, so much so that many real-life rock musicians have cited it as unwatchable for hitting too close to home. Embarrassingly, I thought Spinal Tap was a real band well into my teens, but I’m opting to credit great filmmaking for that mistake.

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS (1999) I was shocked to learn that this film – a wry, twisted satire about a small-town beauty pageant where the competition is killed off one by one in a series of unfortunate ‘accidents’ – bombed at the box office. But as we’re reminded towards the end of the movie, the idea that good things happen to good people is “bullshit”. Luckily, this film was ahead of its time, showing the class struggle in Middle America as a fierce competition between tap-dancing underdog Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst) and gun rights activist/trust-fund kid Becky with the good hair (Denise Richards). The cutting script delivers the slap in the face America deserves right now, and it’s capped off by a triumphant performance from Allison Janney as Loretta, a trailer park thirst queen who acts as a mentor to Amber between drinks, encouraging her to shoot for the stars, even when Amber’s own mother is quite literally shot out of their mobile home by an explosion. ...................

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2014) Following the day-to-day lives of a group of vampires nesting in a Wellington sharehouse, this irreverent horror-comedy is a special kind of weird unique to its New Zealand creators, Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords). We watch as these centuries-old housemates attempt to navigate online chat rooms, lure humans home from a local disco, and get into late-night punch-ups with a gang of snarky werewolves. Waititi’s said throughout his career that he’s inspired by the “outsider”, and his 379-year-old German vampire, Viago, is certainly that. But what’s captivating about this protagonist is how hard he tries to fit in with the humans, even though they’re his only food source. These vampires might be blood-sucking fiends, but they’re also just like us, and that’s what makes this movie great. ...................

KENNY (2006) This Australian comedy gem follows Kenny Smyth (Shane Jacobson), a down-on-his-luck plumber whose commitment to his job in the portaloo industry opens him up to a potential globetrotting career. There’s a long tradition of mockumentaries making heroes out of underdogs, à la Borat, but there’s something especially fulfilling in championing a man who’s dedicated his life to giving people the best portable toilet experience they can possibly have after six vodka Red Bulls, two meat pies and some bad MDMA. The gentle warmth of Shane Jacobson’s performance as the proud Splashdown Corporate

Bathroom Rentals employee is what distinguishes this from its American counterparts. He’s earnest in his passion for toilet maintenance, to the point that, by the end of the movie, you’ll care about the ph levels of a septic system just as much as he does. (And as a rather sweet side note, the film was something of a family affair, written by Shane and his brother Clayton Jacobson, and featuring three generations of their own family.) ...................

FEAR OF A BLACK HAT (1993) Charting the chaotic rise and fall of fictional rap group N.W.H., a postgrad filmmaker, Nina Blackburn (played by Kasi Lemmons), spends a year on the road with band members Ice Cold, Tasty-taste and Tone Def after the release of their new album Fear of a Black Hat: Don’t Shoot Until You See

the Whites. This satire was panned by critics on its release as a direct rip-off of This is Spinal Tap. On closer inspection, part of the joy of the movie is watching black filmmakers brazenly appropriate a sacred white cultural artefact, and transform it into biting commentary on an industry that uses black art to line white pockets. I won’t lie, the jokes don’t always land, but the overall effect is like watching a great sketch on Chappelle’s Show that takes the joke way too far – so far that it loops back around to being funny over and over again. ...................

BEST IN SHOW (2000) Going behind the scenes at one of America’s top 20 dog shows, this is an audacious comedy that attempts to demystify that special breed of dog owner who projects their self-worth onto the shine of their labradoodle’s coat. If you’ve never stayed up until 4am watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog show on Fox Sports, you might not realise how cut-throat these competitions can get. (I watch it all the time, so can testify not only to the hilarity of this movie, but also to its accuracy.) The film is led by an exceptional cast, including Parker Posey as a manic suburban dog mum who sends her Weimaraner to a therapist after it catches her and her husband having kinky sex, and the legendary Eugene Levy and Catherine O’hara in their first onscreen marriage. With films like Waiting for Guffman (1996),

A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006) under his belt, writer/director Christopher Guest is clearly a champion mockumentary maker. But, true to its name, this is, in my humble (and definitely correct) opinion, his best work.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) This is a subtle horror flick that follows a student documentary crew to the sleepy town of Burkittsville, Maryland, as they seek out the truth behind the local legend of the Blair Witch. Infamous for a marketing campaign that fooled an entire generation into thinking it was real, this unique piece of cinema was lost in its own hype, and an onslaught of films that tried to replicate its astonishing success. There’s a lot of lazy critique out there that categorises it as, at best, a historically significant film, and at worst, “overrated”. What’s often left out of the commentary is how technically masterful it is, using the firstperson perspective common to the documentary genre to show us less, and in doing so, forcing our imaginations to fill the gaps. It’s a simple but effective technique that transforms what could have been B-grade horror schlock into a terrifying masterpiece. If you haven’t seen it yet, I insist you give this movie a chance… with the lights on.