Glasgow Film Festival 2023: MISTER ORGAN

David Farrier is no stranger to the bizarre and chthonic aspects of humanity. In Tickled he delved into the world of, er, competitive endurance tickling; in his TV series Dark Tourist he dined with vampires in New Orleans, swam in a lake created by a nuclear blast in Kazakhstan, and attended a voodoo festival in Benin. He has made a career aping the kind of quirky documentaries which made Louis Theroux a household name, and Farrier himself certainly shares several personality traits with the Brit.

But with Mister Organ, Farrier may have finally met his match. Not because of the wild, unpredictable behaviour of his subject, or indeed because of any anomalous circumstances surrounding this strange story. No, those things are comfortably in Farrier‘s wheelhouse. What Farrier struggles within his latest documentary is the sheer banality of it. Indeed at some point Farrier himself admits his subject is not particularly interesting, nor does he promise answers to any of the more interesting questions his behaviour poses. It’s this lack of resolution that sees Mister Organ stumble as a project, even if its initial premise wields humour aplenty.

Bashford Antiques

The story begins when an antiques shop in Auckland run by an eccentric lady called Jillian Bashford begins a scam whereupon anyone parked outside her shop immediately gets clamped and must pay an eye-wateringly exorbitant price to have it removed. This kind of bizarre social behaviour is exactly the kind of thing which piques Farrier‘s interest, and so he runs an article on it. This brings him into the orbit of Michael Organ – a director of Bashford Antiques and ostensibly Jillian‘s partner – who begins a half decade war of attrition against Farrier in retribution for the article.

Farrier, for his part, spies an opportunity for another documentary and so willingly dives headfirst into the caustic world of Michael Organ, a decision he comes to regret. At one point Farrier explains that spending time with Organ is like paying a soul tax, and there is abundant evidence for this throughout. In a number of sit-down interviews and phone calls with Organ, Farrier attempts to tease out the life story of this strange and mysterious man. His own research has yielded a number of astonishing facts, such as that Organ claim to be European royalty, and that he once tried to steal a yacht in another act of retribution. It quickly becomes clear that much of Organ‘s personality is defending himself from imagined slights and dominating others into his will.

It’s here that Mister Organ takes a more sinister turn, as Farrier tracks down a number of former roommates of Organ. Many refuse to give testimony out of fear, but others tell stories of a violent, abusive, corrosive man who attempts to destroy those he comes into contact with. In fact, one interviewee implies the suicide of his friend was directly caused by Organ‘s influence. These moments provide a lucidity to the story that is mostly lacking throughout. Organ is clearly a danger to the society he operates in, and the lives he damaged with his particular brand of freewheeling narcissism seem in direct contrast to the more quirky aspects of his presentation on camera. He appears eccentric but mostly harmless, garbed in ostentatious scarves and perma-donned sunglasses, with a camp demeanour, you may not initially think much of him. However, in the moments when Farrier resists him, or a telling scene with Jillian where she makes a racist remark which draws Organ‘s ire, you see the danger he may represent in his angry, bitter responses.

Controlling the Narrative

It’s easy to see why Farrier thought Organ would be a good subject. On the surface there is much to be intrigued by. The problem is when Farrier loses control of the narrative due to Organ‘s tight control over it. None of Organ‘s relatives will speak to Farrier, and the eponymous antagonist is maddeningly opaque throughout all of Farrier‘s interactions with him. He even attempts to gaslight his interlocuter with psychological manipulations such as stealing a key to Farrier‘s home and then returning it to Farrier with the message that someone close to Farrier had stolen the key and given it to Organ.

It seems that Farrier becomes overwhelmed by this. At one point Farrier admits he feels trapped by Organ; that he has to make this documentary and so is now locked into this mendacious cat-and-mouse game. While it’s hard to blame Farrier for this detour – because it’s clear how a delusional narcissist such as Organ can easily wear down even the most resolute of people with his incessant monologues – it’s also frustrating to watch the narrative spiral off into nothing. Organ will never admit to his actions, nor will Farrier ever be successful in forcing Organ to confront himself. And so Mister Organ tapers off with a whimper instead of a bang.

That’s not to say there aren’t moments of brilliance here. One interviewee, who helped Organ is his attempted yacht-napping, is hilariously bonkers as he regales Farrier with the tale of how he “Bruce Lee’d” his way onto the yacht, and then demonstrates the various, completely implausible, ways in which he was able to use his karate skills on his victims. Elsewhere, a last act interview with the caretaker of a psychiatric facility where Organ once stayed delivers bone-dry pronouncements of hatred for Organ: “if he died and went to hell, the Devil himself would be banging on God’s door to please get this man away from me”.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, Mister Organ is a fascinating – and hilarious – look at one man’s rampant narcissism and how it affects those he comes into contact with. It is darkly compelling and at times infused with the feel of a classic thriller – something the score tries to underline throughout. It’s absolutely worth the watch, even if you feel a sense of frustration that there will never be any kind of resolution to this sordid story. As Farrier himself said at a Q&A recently, “real life just doesn’t work like that”.

Mister Organ screened as part of the Glasgow Film Festival 2023

Watch Mister Organ