The Final Member

A simple documentary about the life of two penis donors and the curator of a phallus museum..

While the penis is presented as the main character in the movie, the director underplays the stereotype attached to penises and lets the viewer follow along, free to have our own reactions without prompting from theatrics..

It's a straight forward documentary and while there are a few exposed penises, it's not a sexual movie,, it's a peek into the psyche of men who love their penises..

I gave it an 8 rating because I found it interesting and as documentaries go, well done..

The Final Member is one of the weirdest most unique documentaries I've ever watched. Just the subject sounds surreal, perfect for a movie of the absurd, real as real life can be. The subject could be enough to make a comedy, but this is not a comedy, it is a slice of life presented with humour. One of those documentaries you won't forget.

The Phallological Museum in Husavik (Iceland) is a tiny museum devoted to collecting and exhibiting penises from animals all around the word. A priori, it seems naughty or ridiculous, but it is actually not when you watch this doco and heard the reasons behind the foundation by its founder and curator Sigurður "Siggi" Hjartarson. This documentary follows Siggi in his quest to complete his collection of phalli with a human specimen, interviewing and communicating with possible donors in Europe and America; you cannot go out and chop somebody's willy, no matter how pretty, and put it in a jar even if it is for a museum.

The documentary is mostly a personality or character study, and we come to enter into the mind and life of Siggy and the possible donors, and become part of something truly unique. The two directors approach the subject with a good balance of curiosity, seriousness and interest, treating their subjects with utmost respect and consideration. The result is a serious documentary about the absurdity of life. You will laugh or rather chuckle, but still feel that none of the characters was ridiculed or mistreated to make this film. The characters are not ordinary people, they are extraordinary people, perhaps for the weirdest of reasons. Not everything extraordinary has to be beautiful or mainstream.

Not for the faint hearted.

I stumbled upon this documentary on Hulu while browsing the catalog. At first based on the film's description it looked interesting. But it turned into a group of eccentric egotistical males having a d measurement contest. The American tattooing the red white and blue stripes on the head of his d was too much to bare. I watch for 30 minutes and then I had to stop it. The biggest question in my mind was why wasn't the museum founder not donating himself to his own museum at the end of his lifetime. I didn't stick around to watch the conclusion of the film because I had enough. The film made me embarrassed to be of the same gender. To me this is a cringy documentary of psychologically unstable old men.

What was my final take on this documentary? The Japanese are not the only perverts in the world. Apparently Iceland has some contenders.

Wow, a quirky subject! And it did sound like it could be interesting...but ultimately it's just pretty dull. The characters, who cares? It's just one big talk about their johnsons and it gets pretty tiring. Look at a documentary like, say, American Scream. That's sort of a quirky small scale subject for a doc, but there's a lot of layers and the people are interesting, and there's drama and laughs. I think film dorks like the Alamo bunch tend to get so caught up in a concept the rest doesn't matter. See how nerds reacted to th idea of Snakes on a Plane for example.

Basically what I'm saying is, sometimes the film dorks have the worst taste. Case in point: The Final Member.

This documentary is related to "The Icelandic Phallological Museum". (http://www.phallus.is/en)

A person with a different choice starts collecting penises of different species. One day it grows up to a small museum in Iceland, probably the only of its kind.

The documentary begins with the curator's wish to have his collection completed by having a human penis. Donors are few. Two persons agree. One from Iceland, another from America. Then the documentary goes on with the happenings.

The film has objectivity. Photography is great. Beauty of Iceland is present in many frames.Music is perfectly blended with the film.

Obviously, this documentary is NOT about biological interest, rather it focuses on human psychology.