Focus Premieres Political Documentary GNARR On Demand → On Demand Weekly

Focus Premieres Political Documentary GNARR On DemandFebruary 09, 2012

Focus World

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand and from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: GNARR (Focus World).

GNARR

By Chris Claro

The kabuki theatre of American politics has long drawn performers from outside its world to perform on its stage – and, as anyone who’s watched the 7,000 Republican debates held over the last few months can attest, it most assuredly is a stage, so it’s only natural that personalities successful in other arenas would take a shot at running for office. Though writers and actors and folk singers have all made attempts to be elected – some successful, some not – it seems that comics are the ones who are truly drawn to the absurdity and irony of the political system.

In 1968, deadpan Smothers Brothers regular Pat Paulsen got himself on the presidential ballot in a few states and ran a campaign during one of the most tumultuous years in American history. More recently, Howard Stern made a semi-serious bid for governor of New York, dropping out only when he realized he’d be forced to disclose his earnings. And just this year, Stephen Colbert started his own super PAC and outpaced Jon Huntsman in the South Carolina primary.

Which brings us to Icelandic comic – yes, an Icelandic comic – Jon Gnarr. With a resume of sketch and standup, Gnarr decided he could run the city of Reykjavik more competently than the incumbent mayor and declared himself a candidate, feeling that his possession of a commercial driver’s license and his stint as an attendant in a mental hospital gave him the credentials. That seemingly impossible quest is the subject of GNARR, a new documentary directed by Gaukur Ulfarsson.

To face off against the “kleptocracy,” that had been running Reykjavik, Gnarr started the Best Party. Initially, he told the press he wanted the job of mayor so he could make a nice salary and use the city-owned summerhouse. He also promised to have a number of “broads” on his ticket and promised farmers a free night in a hotel room with one of their animals.

But what began as a comic lark slowly turned into a genuine campaign and Ulfarsson’s film shows Gnarr’s transformation from comic provocateur to a true alternative for Icelandic voters. With an awareness of what it’s like to be unemployed and to have a child with a long-term illness, Gnarr’s evolution from clown to candidate is both credible and strangely moving.

Gnarr’s campaign came at a critical time for Iceland, where volcanic ash was spewing into the air and snarling travel all over the world and the country’s banks had defaulted to the tune of $62 billion. Ulfarsson’s film suggest that the populace had endured such hardship that electing a comic as mayor seemed almost sensible.

It’s not spoiling anything to say that Gnarr was triumphant in his run and one of the most indelible images in the film is the incumbent mayor playing a brief game of keep-away as she turns over the keys to the office to the comic. Watching him take his place as mayor of a major city is both heartening and a little unsettling, as the gravity of the job seems to finally sink in for Gnarr.

GNARR is a one of the best political documentaries in a long time,

an unpredictable melange of comedy and drama

that shows how the inner workings of a political system

where literally anybody can be mayor.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in comedy or politics – as if there’s any difference between them.

- Chris Claro

Chris
Chris Claro is a contributing writer to On Demand Weekly. He is a former Director of Promotion for Sundance Channel and now works as a writer, producer, and media educator. He is a regular contributor to dvdverdict.com and contributor to the Eyes and Ears section of huffingtonpost.com