Hot Docs Day Four!

I start my day by discovering I have spilled a large bottle of citrus oil degreaser in my courier bag. The contents of this waterproof bag have soaked up so much of this junk that I find a Slayer sweatshirt weighing about ten pounds and my Hot Docs program and pass almost reduced to mulch. Finding these objects makes me realize A) I am a total dirtbag and B) I can't have nice things.

Thank Christ it is a good day at the fest today. I start off with Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Christopher Bell's investigation into steroid use by athletes. He and his two brothers got into bodybuilding and athletics at an early age to overcome the taunts of other school kids. They have all kept up their interest in bodybuilding to a degree that has guided their lives, and each of Bell's brothers have used steroids off and on for years. Bell includes the expected debate into just how harmful steroids are and the history of why their use as performance enhancers is illegal. That only is very interesting and much of the information is surprising. Even more surprising, though, is that Bigger, Stronger, Faster also looks at the myth of the American Dream and the mentality that pushes so many to use steroids in the first place. I expected to enjoy Bigger, but I was not expecting quite so much depth, humour, and heart. This is a fantastic film.

The English Surgeon looks at the work done in the Ukraine by British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh. Marsh has been traveling to the Ukraine for over fifteen years to give gifts of both equipment and expertise to a country sorely in need of both. The impoverished nation still sees patients die from afflictions that have been eliminated in richer countries for fifty years. Marsh has worked closely with his friend and fellow doctor Igor Kurilets to overcome a lack of technology, training, and funds in an attempt to aid often grossly misdiagnosed patients as best he can. The English Surgeon follows Marsh and Kurilets as they try to help Marian, a very poor man with a brain tumour which has given him epilepsy and that he cannot find treatment for in the Ukraine. The story of these three men is captivating, and director Geoffrey Smith has managed a film that is both human and as tense as a good medical drama. There is also a great soundtrack by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, if you're into that sort of thing. But be advised, this doc contains loads of VERY graphic surgical footage. Why there wasn't a content warning about this film either in the programme or at the theatre is beyond me.

I capped off my night with Carny, Alison Murray's humanist portrayal of various people working with a traveling fair. Many of them have predictably colourful histories and sparse teeth, but all of their stories are interesting and Murray pays them respect in the telling. A girl who goes by the name of Hairy is the main focus of the movie. Everyone in Carny seems to be running from something and looking for acceptance in the fair, but Hairy seems the most desperate in her desire to find a new family among the carnival folk. I do have a gripe with the number of threads that are abandoned and under explained in Carny, though. Some compelling stories are simply brushed aside with vague allusions to some trouble having occurred. Still, the bright lights of the midway look great on both video and super 8, and the lives of these carnies are worth a look.

I reek of a chemically orange smell all day, and probably for days to come.

Posted on 04/24/08 by: Aaron 04:16 AM