‘Mister Organ’— More Than Just A Toxic Personality
Investigation is the bread and butter of David Farrier, a journalist who excels in uncovering bizarre people — and the situations they stir up. This time the subject in question gets too close for comfort in Farrier’s life, and it’s not something he could ever have seen coming. After discovering an antique shop in his neighborhood that extorts people parking in their private lot after hours, Farrier chooses to write about its ludicrous practices that happen to be perfectly legal. Once word spreads from his own inquisitive platform, Farrier hits a nerve with the shop’s owner. A lawyer who appears to represent the antique shop sends him a cease and desist letter, threatening legal action if Farrier’s defamation continues.
What follows is a highly unpredictable string of events that leads Farrier to investigate and, in many cases, reinvestigate — the true identity of a man named Michael Organ, whose name is first encountered on the cease and desist letter. It morphs into a personal story for Farrier very quickly and isn’t something he can exactly escape from once he’s resolved to see the story through to its end. Nor does Michael Organ let him. In a series of experiences with his subject, Organ fluctuates dangerously between semi-polite and callously detached with Farrier, chummy with him one day then verbally abusive the next. During an interview Organ remarks, “You probably would’ve been quite an interesting person to know if you weren’t such a cunt.”
Everything about Organ completely uproots Farrier’s perception of reality and truth. Once he finds himself within Organ’s circle, he’s learned the hard way from others who knew him that he was more than simply toxic, but alarmingly unpredictable. Despite the fact that the documentary catalogues a very real situation involving Farrier, it manages to play like a horror film.
Yet the focus of Mister Organ remains unchanged: this is an investigation of a person who dons the mask of influence for those around him if he so chooses, but will not hesitate to change his face in order to punish those who cross him. Farrier explores the outward structures Michael Organ operates within as much as he can stomach them, the inner workings of his mind left unexamined is perhaps the smartest decision on Farrier’s part given how near Michael Organ has been to him for about a 5-year period in the making-of. In the end, it’s a chilling story with beats of absurdity that could never be conjured up in a scripted film. However, it’s the closeness of the subject to the documentarian that lessens how thorough Farrier can be.
Organ clearly affects Farrier to a degree of disorientation in places, and though he soldiers on despite his developing fear of the man, the earlier spirit of laying bare the facts seems to wane in favor of documenting encounters with Organ. In many ways this is essentially a hijacking of someone’s way of life as told through journalism, Farrier’s chosen profession, and the subject almost shifts to Farrier himself partway through. Whatever conclusion Farrier hoped to arrive at when this project started, it certainly has taken more than a few turns and the journey is well worth taking with him.
Mister Organ is currently playing in select theaters courtesy of Drafthouse Films.
[this article was originally published october 17, 2023 on geek vibes nation.]
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