“Of course you are” is what The Wife says when I answer one of her questions with something like, “I’m watching the Icelandic penis documentary”. Indeed, the documentary The Final Member is about the curator of the Icelandic Phallological Museum. He has collected and displays sample penises from every mammalian species from hamster to sperm whale. THAT’S NOT THE WEIRD PART.
The museum still lacks a sample from Homo Sapiens. It’s the curator’s quest – and the men vying to contribute their own organs – that is central to The Final Member. Like the
Errol Morris films Days of Heaven (pet cemetery) and Tabloid (Mormon missionary, cloning dogs), it’s not that the OBJECT of obsession is so funny – it’s the obsession itself. It’s that the documentary presents people who are SO OBSESSED and SO EARNEST about the topic. Of course, it is pretty funny when guys are each striving to put their penises on museum display.
In fact, the lengths to which one guy is willing to go for penis fame and fortune is astounding and, for male viewers, wince-inducing. I’m working on a list of Jawdropping Documentaries, and – believe me – The Final Member is gonna make that list. I recommend The Final Member for its 75 minutes of “he said WHAT?” LOL moments.
BTW that’s one-third of a sperm whale penis in the image at the top of this post. (And the very last shot in The Final Member is a very wry filmmaking joke, too.)
The Final Member is now streaming on Amazon and iTunes.