The Last Freak Show is a short documentary directed by Simon Tatum that airs on More4 this Tuesday.
It follows a musician named Jeffrey Marshall who was born without arms or legs, his feet growing almost directly from his hips.
Curious as to whether people come to his gigs for the music or to stare at a limbless man playing the bass guitar with his feet, he decided to explore his identity as a disabled performer by exhibiting himself in ‘The World of Wonders‘ - the last remaining ‘freak show’ in America.
It focuses on the controversial death in custody of an Afghantaxi driver named Dilawar, who in 2002 was beaten to death by US soldiers at the Bagram Air Base.
Directed by Alex Gibney (who made the 2005 documentary Enron: The Samrtest Guys in the Room) it examines in clinical detail the events surrounding Dilawar’s death, featuring interviews with the troops who caused it and contributions from many figures involved in the story.
The film is meticulous in examining the evidence and explores how the court-martialed soldiers involved were acting upon ambiguous policies that tacitly encouraged torture.
It also makes the connection between the detention tactics used at Bagram and those at Abu Ghraib.
Revolver have done a fine job with the UK DVD, with over 70 minutes of extra footage including:
Commentary: Director Alex Gibney which goes into more detail about the film and the choices he made dring the production and edit.
Interview with Frank Gibney: The director’s father - who was himself a US Navy interrogator during World War 2 - speaks about his experiences questioning Japanese POW’s and his anger at the current US policies.
Outtakes: Some of the sequences which didn’t make the final cut are very interesting, including: a sequence about a SERE school (a US ’survival’ boot camp) who supplied methods to the US army at Guantanamo Bay; a more detailed sequence involving Tony Lagouranis highlighting the absurdity of interrogating suspects in Iraq who were innocent and Carlotta Gaul talking about Dilawar’s family and village; a sequence about a website selling a restraint chair that was used to break a hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay; Clive Stafford Smith discussing his client Binyam Mohammed who was tortured in horrific ways; former US president Jimmy Carter discussing the ‘gross, unprecedented violation’ of US principles that the Bush adminstration has engaged in.
They remain one of the most enduring bands of the last 30 years and although their career was cut short by the tragic death of Curtis in 1980, the remaining members went on to form New Order.
Directed by Grant Gee, the documentary features interviews with all the surviving band members and explores the band’s history through never-before-seen live performance footage, personal photos, period films and newly discovered audio.
It also features contributions from the late Factory Records owner Tony Wilson, iconic Factory Records graphic artist Peter Saville, photographer/filmmaker Anton Corbijn, Belgian journalist Annik Honoré (speaking for the first time about her relationship with Ian Curtis) and many other connected with the band.
I recently spoke with the drummer Stephen Morris about the film, how it differs from Control (the biopic that came out last year) and the legacy of the band.
Listen to the interview here:
Download it as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.
Joy Division opens at selected UK cinemas on Friday 2nd May
