Fast, Cheap and Out of Control

Aroview: Further pushing out a signature style that impresses technique as much as subject, dir. Errol Morris here takes real life as a mere starting point for a stylized, philosophical filmic essay. Linking four subjects related only by an esoteric obsession – a lion tamer, a topiary gardener, a robot scientist and an expert on the mole-rat – he uses creative reconstructions, old movies, stock footage and an array of editing and sound effects to create a sensory, textured whole that alludes to a bigger picture of man’s search for meaning in the universe. The result is a triumph of craft and originality, though doco traditionalists and sociophiles may still be left hankering for more.

NZ International Film Festival 1998

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