Peter Martin is back with more from AFI, this time looking at Steve Anderson's documentary about everyone's favorite curse word ... somehow I think this one won't be landing distribution any time soon, but I really want to see it ...
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Outrageously funny, Steve Anderson's documentary FUCK goes far beyond its profane title to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the world's favorite epithet.
The doc packs an amazing amount of information into its running time. From overturning urban legends about its etymology to examining the word's place in history, Anderson uses animation by the award-winning Bill Plympton, archival footage, news stories, and liberal quotations from the Bible to shed light on "fuck" in the context of politics, sex, religion, movies, radio, and television over the years. The topic-by-topic coverage gives structure to what initially appears to be a scattershot approach to the subject.
Anderson and his team assembled an impressive roster of celebs and intellectual talking heads across the political spectrum from Dennis Prager and Pat Boone to Bill Maher and Janeane Garofalo. The film tilts to the left -- especially in segments that bounce between liberal and conservative views with pin-point editing -- but not, I think, to the point that right-wingers would feel unfairly left out of the discussion (assuming, that is, that they would see any fim entitled FUCK).
Interviewees delight in the use of the word (Billy Connolly, Alanis Morissette, Kevin Smith), ponder its coarsening effect upon society (Miss Manners, Michael Medved), or ruefully ponder the state of civil liberties (Hunter S. Thompson, in what may be his last interview). In the case of Ron Jeremy and Tera Patrick, well, your imagination can fill in why porn stars love the word.
Lenny Bruce and George Carlin are highlighted as groundbreakers, but the doc feels right up to date, noting the controversy over Janet Jackson's exposed Super Bowl nipple and Howard Stern's move to satellite radio.
My favorite bit is Pat Boone's creation of a new profanity as a substitute for the offending "f-word" -- a profanity that is picked up by Ice T. by the end of the movie and used to hilarious effect.
The snappy pace never sags. Anderson made his narrative debut in 2003 with THE BIG EMPTY, which I described as a "sun-baked film noir" at the time. It was quirky, worthwhile entertainment, but FUCK feels like a quantum leap forward -- perhaps the documentary format is the natural metier for the filmmaker, or maybe this will energize his next project. Whatever Anderson does next, he can stand proudly behind FUCK.
FUCK does not yet have U.S. distribution, but somebody smart simply must pick it up. It will have its World Premiere at AFI FEST on Monday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. and will also play Wednesday, November 9 at 4:00 p.m.
More information is available at the AFI
FEST web site.
Review by Peter Martin.