Tickled - directed by David Farrier & Dylan Reeve
This documentary potentially has a big problem.
Huge in fact I would think.
Not with its execution which is very, very good but in its marketing.
It's a good problem to have but a problem it is.
If you've heard of this film you probably know that it is about the professional tickling scene.
Yeah- it is exactly what it sounds like - people being tickled in competition with each other.
The trouble is that this isn't really at all what this film is about.
It started off as a simple news story about tickling for sure but at the point where that little story morphed into a full fledged documentary with international travel, law suits, federal law enforcement and a whole lot more it became about something else entirely.
You will note that I am being vague about what that is and that is because to know is to have much of the power of this film to intrigue stolen away from you (and it).
So how to market a film about something that is really about something else then?
The producers seem to have taken the right tack and fired it into a film festival or two and let word of mouth and critical praise do its job.
And it has worked because my initial reaction upon hearing the announcement of David Farrier's documentary was 'The guy who does the light and fluffy stories on tv is doing a documentary about tickling? Yeah - I don't think this is me'.
So spoiling my own reviews ending.... I was wrong.
This film is very, very good and it is very much worth seeing.
New Zealanders will know David Farrier as TV3 News former reporter who specialised in lighter fare.
The sorts of stories that pick you up at the end of a bulletin that has been up until then filled with tales of road deaths, war, natural disasters and cats and dogs living together.
These feel good stories tend to be about odd people doing odd things.
Maybe a sauna while interviewing a conservative politician, a Gene Simmons interview, local weirdoes.... lots of animal stuff.
Anything that was cheerful and made you forget about the doom and gloom for a while.
It was while researching material of this ilk that Farrier stumbled across a video clip of someone being tickled with mention of a competitive tickling circuit and an organisation behind it.
Assuming that his request to said organisation for an interview would be met with either interest or polite refusal it instead garnered a very bizarre response.
The reply from Jane O'Brien Media says that they have no interest in talking to a homosexual who has an unsavoury history.
It rambles in so nutty a manner that it is hard to take seriously.
I was reminded of the responses in interviews with Trump Supporters at his rallies when asked to justify their racist or sexist viewpoints.
Scary for sure but so crazy that it lessens the impact at least a little.
Now, what happens next is best left for the viewer to discover but let me just say that this film stops being about tickling and it starts being about bullying and coercion and all manner of truly horrible behaviour.
Lawyers quickly enter the fray by way of first class flight from the United States to Auckland, New Zealand.
It is fascinating stuff with a huge air of mystery about it.
I was reminded of one of my favourite books while watching the first half of this film - Clifford Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg".
This true story of an astronomer who tracked down an international computer hacker when he was offered free computer time in exchange for figuring out what was causing a user accounting error shares a similar 'plot'.
Farrier, in trying to investigate an amusing incident discovered by accident is instead lead down an altogether spookier path.
My fear that this would be a light and fluffy film about a bunch of nutty fetishists padded out to feature length proved completely unfounded.
There is a fair amount of manipulation in the music choices and some of the images that are paired with audio recordings of phone calls.
In one reasonably shameless scene a bird of prey is seen snatching the bloody carcass of a freshly killed rabbit as an audio conversation discusses unsavoury behaviour.
To be fair it is rare indeed to see a documentary that doesn't employ some dramatic editing and this one is remarkably restrained compared to most that I have seen.
It's really the only niggle that I have and it is indeed a very small one.
I have heard complaints that the sexual nature of the tickling isn't explored and frankly that would have served as a distraction to what is really important here and the great work that the team behind the film have done.
I have a lot of respect for Farrier and Reeve's tenacity.
They are determined in the face of frequent personal and legal threats and seem determined not to succumb to bullying.
It is mentioned implicitly at least once too that there is a bigger issue than their own interests in pursuing the story and other people are at play too and the duos considerable time and effort seems aimed at least in part at offering some relief for parties mentioned and others not.
See the film and you'll know what I am referring to.
And I do suggest that you do see this.
There is a reason that it is still playing months after premiering and for it being mentioned as a contender for an Oscar nomination.
I found "Tickled" fascinating, occasionally shocking but above all a damned finely crafted documentary with some terrific investigative journalism behind it.
RATING: 81 / 100
CONCLUSION: At times amusing, often sinister but never less than fascinating this is definitely not a film about a goofy fetish. Great work.
Starring: David Farrier, Dylan Reeve, David Starr, Hal Karp, David D'Amato
Screenplay: N/A
Music Score by: Rodi Kirkcaldy & Florian Zwietnig
Cinematography: Dominic Fryer
Cinematography: Dominic Fryer
Edited by: Simon Coldrick
Running Time: 93 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Language
Running Time: 93 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Language
Huge in fact I would think.
Not with its execution which is very, very good but in its marketing.
It's a good problem to have but a problem it is.
If you've heard of this film you probably know that it is about the professional tickling scene.
Yeah- it is exactly what it sounds like - people being tickled in competition with each other.
The trouble is that this isn't really at all what this film is about.
It started off as a simple news story about tickling for sure but at the point where that little story morphed into a full fledged documentary with international travel, law suits, federal law enforcement and a whole lot more it became about something else entirely.
You will note that I am being vague about what that is and that is because to know is to have much of the power of this film to intrigue stolen away from you (and it).
So how to market a film about something that is really about something else then?
The producers seem to have taken the right tack and fired it into a film festival or two and let word of mouth and critical praise do its job.
And it has worked because my initial reaction upon hearing the announcement of David Farrier's documentary was 'The guy who does the light and fluffy stories on tv is doing a documentary about tickling? Yeah - I don't think this is me'.
So spoiling my own reviews ending.... I was wrong.
This film is very, very good and it is very much worth seeing.
New Zealanders will know David Farrier as TV3 News former reporter who specialised in lighter fare.
The sorts of stories that pick you up at the end of a bulletin that has been up until then filled with tales of road deaths, war, natural disasters and cats and dogs living together.
These feel good stories tend to be about odd people doing odd things.
Maybe a sauna while interviewing a conservative politician, a Gene Simmons interview, local weirdoes.... lots of animal stuff.
Anything that was cheerful and made you forget about the doom and gloom for a while.
It was while researching material of this ilk that Farrier stumbled across a video clip of someone being tickled with mention of a competitive tickling circuit and an organisation behind it.
Assuming that his request to said organisation for an interview would be met with either interest or polite refusal it instead garnered a very bizarre response.
The reply from Jane O'Brien Media says that they have no interest in talking to a homosexual who has an unsavoury history.
It rambles in so nutty a manner that it is hard to take seriously.
I was reminded of the responses in interviews with Trump Supporters at his rallies when asked to justify their racist or sexist viewpoints.
Scary for sure but so crazy that it lessens the impact at least a little.
 |
| Competitive tickling, some gear for shoot and far right David Farrier watches a Florida shoot |
Lawyers quickly enter the fray by way of first class flight from the United States to Auckland, New Zealand.
It is fascinating stuff with a huge air of mystery about it.
I was reminded of one of my favourite books while watching the first half of this film - Clifford Stoll's "The Cuckoo's Egg".
This true story of an astronomer who tracked down an international computer hacker when he was offered free computer time in exchange for figuring out what was causing a user accounting error shares a similar 'plot'.
Farrier, in trying to investigate an amusing incident discovered by accident is instead lead down an altogether spookier path.
My fear that this would be a light and fluffy film about a bunch of nutty fetishists padded out to feature length proved completely unfounded.
 |
| Farrier at work, meeting Lawyers and with David Starr in a shocking scene and far right with Reeve |
In one reasonably shameless scene a bird of prey is seen snatching the bloody carcass of a freshly killed rabbit as an audio conversation discusses unsavoury behaviour.
To be fair it is rare indeed to see a documentary that doesn't employ some dramatic editing and this one is remarkably restrained compared to most that I have seen.
It's really the only niggle that I have and it is indeed a very small one.
I have heard complaints that the sexual nature of the tickling isn't explored and frankly that would have served as a distraction to what is really important here and the great work that the team behind the film have done.
I have a lot of respect for Farrier and Reeve's tenacity.
They are determined in the face of frequent personal and legal threats and seem determined not to succumb to bullying.
It is mentioned implicitly at least once too that there is a bigger issue than their own interests in pursuing the story and other people are at play too and the duos considerable time and effort seems aimed at least in part at offering some relief for parties mentioned and others not.
See the film and you'll know what I am referring to.
And I do suggest that you do see this.
There is a reason that it is still playing months after premiering and for it being mentioned as a contender for an Oscar nomination.
I found "Tickled" fascinating, occasionally shocking but above all a damned finely crafted documentary with some terrific investigative journalism behind it.
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