''The Man Whose Mind Exploded'' is a 2013

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by

Toby Amies Toby Amies is a filmmaker and broadcaster who specialises in making programmes about art, music, and travel with an emphasis on fringe culture and alternative perspectives. He is best known for his feature-length documentary ''The Man Whose Mind ...

. The film depicts the strange relationship between Toby and Brighton eccentric Drako Oho Zarharzar. It was first premiered at the

Sheffield Doc/Fest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The Festival includes film sc ...

and pitched in the 2008 MeetMarket, and was also shown at the

Cork Film Festival The Cork International Film Festival, also known as the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City, Ireland. It was established in 1956 as part of An Tóstal An Tóstal (, meaning "The Gathering") was the name for a serie ...

, Revelation Perth International Film Festival,

Cambridge Film Festival The Cambridge Film Festival is the third-longest-running film festival in the UK. The festival historically took place during early July, but now takes place annually during Autumn in Cambridge. It is organised by the registered charity Cambri ...

, Brighton's Cinecity Festival, and was an official selection at the

East End Film Festival The East End Film Festival was one of the UK's largest film festivals. It ceased all operations on 4 March 2020. The owner, Alison Poltock, explained that "the push to provide a more mainstream commercial offering is not for us." Founded in 200 ...

. ''The Man Whose Mind Exploded'' started life as a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme described by

Miranda Sawyer Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster. Education and early life Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated at ...

in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' as "the best documentary of 2008". The reception to it was so positive that the director was encouraged to turn it into a film. The film was produced by Rob Alexander, Kat Mansoor, and

. Executive producers were Daisy Asquith and Dunstan Bruce while the editing was done by Jim Scott.

Synopsis

Drako Oho Zarharzar can remember modeling for

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

and hanging out with The Stones. But he can't remember yesterday. Following a severe head injury Drako has serious brain damage and terrible memory loss. He can access memories from before his accident, but can't imprint new ones. As he puts it, "the recording machine in my head doesn't work". As an antidote to depression he chose to live "completely in the now" according to the bizarre mottoes delivered to him whilst in his second coma. A tiny flat completely filled with a collage of memories, reminders and erotic art, Drako's house acts as a metaphor for his extraordinary mind. Filmed over four years the director starts off making a film exploring Drako's lurid and exotic back story including work with Dalí, he Factory Les

Folies Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

, and

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

. But he is forced to stay in Drako's never ending now and soon a line is crossed, and the documentary maker becomes caretaker.

Soundtrack

The film music was composed by Adam Peters who made his debut as a solo movie score composer on '' Savages'' (2012) directed by Oliver Stone.

Reception

''The Man Whose Mind Exploded'' gained 4 star reviews from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', '' Time Out'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' in the UK.

References

Miranda Sawyer, ''The Man Whose Mind Exploded'', BBC Radio 4

4-star review, The Guardian4-star review, ''The Times''4-star review ''Time Out'' (Magazine)Sheffield Doc/FestRevelation International Film Festival

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Man Whose Mind Exploded, The (film) Documentary films about mental health Documentary films about people with disability 2013 films 2013 documentary films British documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films