LEVIATHAN @ TIFF Bell Lightbox

This weekend I found myself at a screening of a much talked-about documentary: LEVIATHAN.

The chatter surrounding the film did have me curious to see it for myself, but that’s not the whole reason for me catching a screening of it. For starters, I pulled the trigger on seeing LEVIATHAN because there is nothing else of interest playing in theatres right now – or at least nothing else that I haven’t seen already. But above all, the main reason why I chose to see LEVIATHAN this particular weekend? It was showing for free.

Strange isn’t it? Take something that one only has a passing interest in – offer it up at no charge and suddenly we’re all over it.

So thanks to that attractive cost of admission, I soon found myself surrounded by a few dozen other curious onlookers in Lightbox Cinema Three, none of us seemingly aware of what we’d just signed on for. We would all soon find ourselves metaphorically tossed over the side of the boat and treading in icy cold waters.

LEVIATHAN is an unnarrated documentary about life on a commercial fishing vessel off the New Bedford coast. Sounds interesting when I put it that way, doesn’t it? Well it is, but what a prospective viewer may or may not realize they are getting into, is the fact that the entire doc has been shot with tiny HD Cameras called Go Pros. These cameras get very deep into the action, often finding themselves surrounded by nets, or fish, or water. Sometimes they are affixed to the nets and buoys being dragged through the waters…sometimes they are affixed to the workers themselves.

There are many times where the viewer is unsure of what they are seeing, there are even more times where the sound envelops the viewer from all sides. And there are many many moments where the film feels like it is WAY too close to its subjects for comfort.

(Note to self: Apologize to Tom Hooper.)

As the film played on and the screen was painted the peuce tones of fish guts, many of my fellow filmgoers in Cinema Three cried “uncle!” and walked out. There were at least a dozen retreats before I stopped counting. Perhaps these people didn’t realize what they were getting into and were simply lured by “free tickets”. It’s also possible that these folks were getting grossed out by more fish guts than they are used to on a Saturday afternoon. Or perhaps, like me, they just weren’t always sure what the hell they were looking at. Whatever the reason, outside of a festival, this screening has to hold a record for the most amount of walkouts I’ve ever been witness to – right up until the film was five minutes from over.

I can’t say I blame them. While I’m happy I saw LEVIATHAN for purposes of discussion, it’s not a film I’m going to be recommending to others…nor likely ever watching again. And yet, I never felt bored or uninterested by it. I’ve spoken before about Cinematic Brussel Sprouts, and more than any standard documentary, foreign, or classic film, LEVIATHAN seems to live up to that label.

It’s something healthy and filled with nutrients. It’s enjoyed by some, but disliked by many, and inherently “good for you”. Like my experience with LEVIATHAN, I’ve eaten a reasonably tasty brussel sprout or two in my time, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be making myself any when it’s my night to cook. I may have kept them down this time while so many others were walking away from the table, but part of me thinks that’s just so I could boast that I kept them down.

Some documentaries are fascinating but ugly. Other documentaries are stunning but straightforward. LEVIATHAN is neither – it exists and confounds.