Notes on "Documentary Now!"

 I've known about the IFC series, "Documentary Now!" for a while now, but I was apprehensive about starting it.  "Documentary Now!" parodies various documentaries, both good and bad, and there were a lot of the show's targets that I had zero familiarity with.  However, as time went on, and the kudos piled up, it got more and more tempting.  Finally this year, after learning the fourth season featured episodes that would spoof Werner Herzog and Agnes Varda films, I gave in.  I just limited myself to watching the episodes based on documentaries I'd already seen, and had no trouble at all.  

I'd argue that this is the best way to tackle the show.  While many of the individual installments are absolutely watchable without any outside knowledge, it's much easier to appreciate the work that goes into these spoofs if you have some familiarity with the originals.  For instance, in the third season the show did a parody of "Original Cast Album: Company," a 1970 documentary where D.A. Pennebaker filmed the recording session for the cast album of the Stephen Sondheim musical.  The episode is called "Original Cast Album: Co-Op."  In addition to reproducing filming and technical details to make the whole episode look like it had been made in the '70s., writing multiple original songs in the style of a Sondheim musical, and getting Broadway veterans Renée Elise Goldsberry, Alex Brightman, Richard Kind, and Paula Pell to come sing them, "Co-op" takes the time to specifically riff on incidents from the "Company" recording, such as Sondheim delivering notes on pronunciation, and later a cast member storming out.  Best of all, it's funny.  Richard Kind wheezing his way to the finish, and everyone learning the show has closed after only one night had me in stitches.  

"Documentary Now!" is largely the work of "Saturday Night Live" veterans.  Seth Meyers and John Mulaney have writing credits on most of the episodes I saw, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen are recurring performers, and Alex Buono and Rhys Thomas are directors or co-directors of every episode.  The series often feels like an outlet for these funny people to tackle more ambitious, more highbrow material than mainstream audiences would accept in their other work.  And clearly, they have no shortage of willing collaborators.  Helen Mirren serves as the "Documentary Now!" host, introducing every episode with poised perfection.  Cate Blanchett plays the Marina Abramovic stand-in for "Waiting for an Artist," which both sends up performance art and displays a healthy appreciation for it.  A bevy of New Hollywood talent, including Peter Bogdanovich, Faye Dunaway, and Peter Fonda pop up in "Mr. Runner Up," the memoir of a serial awards chaser.  And the amount of passion and care that's put into the show is frankly thrilling to see.  No detail, from title fonts and production logos, to film grain and lighting setups, are too small to factor into a spoof. 

The quality of the various episodes is as different as the documentaries they send up, including concert films, profiles of interesting figures, and investigative narratives.  A mediocre documentary, like "Dear Mr. Watterson," can inspire a fantastic spoof like "Searching for Mr. Larson," which tears into the narcissistic director's self-aggrandizement.  On the other hand, arguably the greatest movie "making-of" documentary of all time, Werner Herzog's "Burden of Dreams," begets the rather unfocused "Soldier of Illusion," that feels lost in the mountains along with its stars, Alexander Sarsgaard and August Diehl.  At least Diehl makes for a magnificent Klaus Kinski figure.  The show is at its best when it manages to hone in on particular, idiosyncratic details, like the father/son dynamic in "Juan Likes Rice and Chicken," a South American take on "Jiro Dreams of Sushi."   I've long been a fan of Agnes Varda, and it was so heartwarming to find "Trouver Frisson," a loose parody of her autobiographical documentaries like "The Beaches of Agnes" and "Faces Places."  Not only does it nail her particular first person narrative and editing style, but her gentle, fanciful sense of humor.  

The series is incredibly niche, but so good at being what it is, I don't see how its intended audience of cinephiles could resist.  At least two episodes have even found their way into Criterion Collection disc extras for the films that they are parodying.  Frankly, I now have a list of documentary films I want to watch, just so I can go back and check out the "Documentary Now!" episodes that they inspired. 

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