TABLOID - MIFF 2011

This is one of those truth is definitely stranger than fiction kind of films, as this is the new documentary from Errol Morris, and looks at the bizarre life of Joyce McKinney.  McKinney was accused and jailed in the 70’s for kidnapping a Mormon she had become obsessed with, shackling him to a bed in a cottage situated in a small town near London, and proceeded to have sex (rape?) with him for three days.  When the tabloids got a hold of the story they dubbed it “The Case Of The Manacled Mormon” and it became a worldwide sensation.  McKinney’s own account of what actually happened during this weekend differs dramatically as she tells her version of events in this amazing and hilarious documentary.  Due to the nature and details of the story, the tabloids went crazy for this story and when McKinney was released from jail (on bail), she was a massive celebrity, bigger than most of the movie stars at the time.  As strange as the story sounds already, it continued to get stranger and stranger as it went on, and involved such things as love, rape, religion, fleeing the law, prostitution, S&M, bondage, ethics of tabloid journalism, dogs and cloning.  That’s right, you read that correctly, cloning.  Seriously, you just cannot believe the life Joyce McKinney has had, and the things that have happened in it.

The documentary itself is handled very well, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which works well due to the absurd nature of most of this story.  Morris has interviewed a number of people involved in the kidnap story from the tabloid journalists covering the story at the time, to a pilot hired by McKinney to help her out in London (who later backed out once the true nature of her plan was revealed to him), as well as a current Mormon to get some religious background and to put some details into context or perspective.  However it is McKinney herself that supplies most of the information as well as the laughs.  It is hard to find a lot of truth in her story, and it doesn’t really matter either, as Morris seems less concerned with finding out exactly what happened that weekend in London, rather he prefers to profile the incredibly strange life of this equally strange woman.  While there may not be a lot of truth told, McKinney is always fun to listen to.  The key moment in the film is when McKinney, talking about someone else, states “you can tell a lie long enough that you believe it”.  The moment is lost on McKinney herself, but everyone picks up on it in the audience.  It is almost like an involuntary confession. 

The only downside of “Tabloid” is that unfortunately Kirk Anderson, the kidnap victim, refused to be a part of the documentary which is a shame because we never get to hear his side of the story.

Overall, I had a great time with Errol Morris’s latest documentary, the fact that it is so funny (I loved that one of the journalist’s had an obsession with the phrase “spread-eagled”) while revealing facts (?) about the amazing life of former beauty queen Joyce McKinney, makes this one of my festival highlights so far.

4 Stars.