Written and directed by Samuel Lodato, Remi Milligan – Lost Director is a defining moment in the mockumentary genre. We follow the fictitious life and work of film director Remi Milligan (Reza Diako) though the eyes of his friends, family and colleagues in the years leading up to his mysterious disappearance.
Lodato’s storytelling skills are second to none. The characters and scenarios he creates are, at their core, clever and comedic. The film satirises some of the more pretentious areas of indie film making while also managing to capture what’s great about the indie scene. Remi himself is an enigmatic, rather closed-off figure. Our opinion of Remi is shaped by behind the scenes footage from his movies. Here, he appears aloof; a prankster with little regard for those around him. And yet, almost like a cult leader, he develops a loyal following of crew members. Many of Remi’s co-workers feel very strongly about him and protecting his work/ reputation. Especially close friend and collaborator Ingvar (Sebastian Romaniuk). We explore some of Remi’s early work, including “Killer Pencil”, a film about (you guessed it) a killer pencil.
There are highs and lows. Things take a turn for the worse for Remi during the filming of his musical “Song and Dance at Guantanamo Bay” – a musical about a group of singers who get mistaken for terrorists and imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. The concept behind this film reminded me of the UK show Skins where, in one episode, a group of college kids perform Osama The Musical, featuring a song called “Then Came the Day (Osama Blew us Away).” Milligan’s film, however, features parodies of popular songs including “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Torture” (that one really made me laugh).
Not everyone can get on with Remi, as becomes apparent in his filming of “Satsuman”, a film about a half-man half-satsuma creature that is also an allegory about racial prejudice. The woman playing Satsuman, Lizzie Evans (Erin Maria Walther), detests Remi, and the feeling is mutual. But she continues to work on the project as she believes in its potential. Remi would have fired her from the film but they couldn’t find anyone else small enough to fit in the costume. “Satsuman” features an incredibly funny sex scene involving Satsuman and some orange juice… and that’s all I’m saying.
Samuel Lodato does an excellent job of fleshing out the story and characters of Remi Milligan. Where he excels is telling the story though the mockumentary genre. It’s such a specific stylistic method, but Remi Milligan gets every aspect spot on. From the behind the scenes shots and the talking head style interviews right down to the music and the editing: everything fits so snugly together to create an amusing, engaging documentary. Every actor and actress gets the intonation exactly right, such to the extent that you almost forget this isn’t a real documentary. Remi’s ex-girlfriend, played by Sara Granato, and his mother and father, played by Francesca Kos and Rene Costa, are just a few examples of this. Every member of the cast exudes authenticity in a way that makes the overall concept of the film even more comical.
Lodato’s mockumentary is a treat for anyone who enjoys film and can have a laugh at the expense of pretentiousness. One thing to note, however, is that the film is never really expressing ridicule or derision – of course imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. The words of Remi’s father regarding his son’s films struck me as particularly poignant: “These films mean something to someone.” Anything that means anything to anyone, for any reason, can be art – even if it only means something to the person who created it. Art has the power to bring people together, as can be seen with the members of the Remi Milligan fan club at the end of the film.
I hope to see a Samuel Lodato fan club at some point in the future! Watch the trailer for Remi Milligan: Lost Director below!