It might be impolite to say this: but I’d love to call Cate Blanchett “Documentary Now!” I would love to see The episode compared the handling of Berlin Phil to harassing young female virtuoso in the hysteria-tinged arthouse Oscar bat “Tar”.
One of the double Oscar winner’s finest roles was last season’s breathlessly hilarious “Waiting for the Artist” on self-serious Serbian conceptual artist Marina Abramovich. Now, in the new Season 4 (or “Season 53” as the producers tease) premiering October 19 on IFC, Blanchett returns. She plays a gloomy, spectacle-wearing village barber opposite her young matriarch Lady Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walter), eating the beauty-themed docs, “Two Hairdressers in Bagleyport”, “Succession”.
Maybe it all comes down to taste, but I can’t imagine Blanchett better than the wildly free, reality-bound comedic performances to which she’s so fully committed here. ,Carol?” Hardly not.
The series is the brainchild of Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers and Rhys Thomas. Among its inspirations are “Take the Money and Run,” “Zelig” and, of course, Mock-Doc’s “Ben-Hur,” “This Is Spinal Tap.” As always, keep it up to eleven, Nigel.
With these touchstones in mind, Hader told the leading factual magazine “The Smithsonian” that he told his creative collaborators Thomas and Alex Buono, “This is the mood of the show: very serious, very dry, but also crazy jokes and crazy moments. With. You don’t want to wink at the audience too much.”
And that mood has been captured over and over again, with four new spot-on and outrageous episodes following the two-part premiere. This season shows no sign of flagging, as documentaries have multiplied, evolving from a one-time status to a red-headed step-child taking movies to streaming giants. (I love the title sequence reference to Barbara Koppel’s seminal “Harlan County, USA,” the first doctor registered for me.)
From the retro-urgency of the opening theme, the gullible host of Helen Mirren in understated boots and a fading-from-the-woods-green frock, hands-clad, knee-locked, the show is brainwashed by the comfort of known parameters of style. Provides Faith of Haider, Meyers, Armisen, John Mulaney, et. al.
The Most Unrivaled is a spoof on the 2021 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winner about the emotionally-stunned navel-gazer and the director’s evolving relationship with his mollusk subject. “My Octopus Teacher” gets the full treatment here. A popular but polarizing film, lush underwater photography, a peculiar mix of inter-species romantic projection and masculine narcissism, lends itself to parody. It inspired “My Monkey Grifter”, a twisty tale written by Meyers and directed by and starring Jamie Demetrio. Like its predecessor, it is both entertaining and repellent. To quote Dame Helen’s introduction: “If a dog is a man’s best friend, what is a monkey?”
With Mulaney taking his screenwriting shot, he bases “Soldier of Illusion” on the Les Blancs Cinéma Verite classic shot in the Peruvian jungle with Werner Herzog, “Burden of Dreams”. The “making” format is precise and riotous about the documentary, with Alexander Skarsgrd showing off his comedy chops as the monomaniac director.
The “Northman” star toggles between a young filmmaker with a moustache and a haunted man returning to the set after two decades. In the earlier days, he would briefly play football with the indigenous locals; Later, her hair disappears into wispy strands semi-hiding age spots. Young or old, he is prone to utter rhetoric in thick accents, such as “A forest with a camera is no longer a forest… but an illusion like a forest.” We can only nod.
There are more: “How They Throw Rocks” is an antique spoof of the late Leon Gast’s Oscar-winning sports doc “Muhammad Ali: When We Were Kings”. It makes for a stellar score in the competitive Welsh rock-hurling world, and features surprising cameos from Tom Jones, Jonathan Price, and others. In an entirely different tone, “Trouver Frisson” draws its inspiration from Agnes Varda, following a director named Ida Leos (Lillian Rover) as he struggles to recover. frissonAt the end of her career, her laugh-out-loud mojo.
I’m taken with the range and depth of wisdom displayed by the writers and directors, the subtle cultural critique tied to the silliness of “This Is Spinal Tap” and “Take the Money and Run”. This clever humor is rooted in a place of love and cooperation that prompts to watch over and over again. Taken together, “Documentary Now!” Not just a parody, but raw movie-nerd heaven.
“Documentary Now!” Season 4 begins on October 19 on IFC and will stream on AMC+.