Mockumentaries...

Scene from Pervye na Lune (First on the Moon)

By Péter MARTON

Just a quick piece on mockumentaries. I recently had the chance to watch two such films and it may be good to pass the information on in case you might have an interest in tracking them down, especially if you're a fan of the (sub)genre.

One is Trollhunter, a Norwegian movie from 2010, described as dark fantasy by some, written and directed by André Øvredal. The other is Pervye na Lune/First on the Moon (Первые на Луне) from 2005, directed by Alex Fedorchenko -- an alternative history piece.

Both films focus on conspiracies of different sorts: a benevolent one in the case of Norway where the conspiracy is keeping people protected, and a cynical one in the case of Russia where the mockumentary mentions even one of the interviewees appearing in it as having disappeared during the shooting of the documentary. (A documentary about a supposedly long-past event, at that, which was probably a way for the filmmakers to speak about present-day (2005) Russia as well). 

Trollhunter is funny and spectacular. Most of the energy went into creating something fully allowing the audience to suspend disbelief, even during the action-packed scenes featuring giant trolls. To underline its fundamentally satirical tone in a paradoxical way, it creates a real hero (the everyday extraordinary) in the character played by Otto Jespersen. But you get more than just a fun ride, and there are, dropped with careful timing, some amusing and ironic cultural comments, too.

Trollhunter - An extraordinary everyday hero

First on the Moon is occasionally funny, sometimes a little dull to be honest, but still worth watching. It caters to the needs of a different audience, for whom the number of artistic references per second is a more noteworthy indicator of quality than the adrenaline-inducing effect of CGI. My personal biggest objection to it (even as I enjoyed it at times) is similar to the complaint I had related to this recent Hungarian movie. One can make fun of how space programs started, or how specifically the Soviet Union's space program had some very-very awkward moments, but in the end these programs delivered in missions where the slightest mistake can kill. At least First on the Moon's alternative history has the Soviet space program beginning in the 1930s, in the most nightmarish era of the Stalinist system, with the purges taking place, when any space program indeed couldn't have been anything but awkward, even as surely it would have produced its heroes, all ultimately dying heroic deaths, and all ultimately disappearing from known photographs...

Another favorite scene from First on the Moon

Hunting these movies down certainly puts you less at risk than trying to deal with unruly trolls in the night or being second in line to a pig in test-flying on the back of your country's newest missile into space. With that I wish you blue skies and smoothly streaming movies, everyone!