This one's a beautiful, tender, quiet romantic drama with a moody atmosphere, set in a tight knit Welsh fishing community. It's a touching story about a man waking up sexually in the middle of his life, and how he, his family, and everyone around him deal with it, which makes it emotional and sentimental without ever getting over the top. The slow burn plays out against a landscape that's as bleak as it is gorgeous, where quiet, closed off men are stuck inside rigid ideas of what masculinity should be. Some people might be reminded of "God's Own Country," but I think both films are lovely in their own way. Jack is a middle aged guy who co-owns a mussel farm with his rough around the edges brother Dyfan, and the tension between the two of them is simmering under the surface right from the start. Dyfan's three sons all help out with the work, while Jack's sulky teenage son Tom keeps skipping out. Jack's been with his wife since they were both 16, and...
Siggi, founder of the Icelandic Phallological Museum, admits that the project began as a joke. Many many years into his dream, he runs the world's largest museum which has almost every penis of every species that is there to be. But his dream is to have the most important human penis. This one thing has evaded him for long. Fortunately, a volunteer arrives in the form of Pall Arason, a famous Icelandic adventurer and well-known womanizer. He I she sort of candidate that will be amazing for the museum. To Siggi's surprise, another man from USA, Tom, a swaggering, well-endowed cowboy who refers to his penis as Elmo also wants to immortalized and wants to be “the world’s first true penis celebrity.” He even gets stars and stripes tattooed on his dick head, because everyone needs to know that Elmo belonged to an American. But he also starts thinking of getting it cut off while he is alive, so he can feel the attention. He is very interested in every aspect of this donation, which starts annoying Siggi, whose own health is starting to deteriorate so he decides to pledge his own penis to the museum in case of his death. Luckily, Paul is close to his death bed and ends up dying thereby fulfilling his wish of a human penis for Siggi's museum. Siggi is very proud of his work that day and decides to retire leaving the legacy to his son to run things for him.
As fascinating the story is, it is also interesting to see how the thing may have started as a joke, but eventually everyone around him got around. His wife, family, cousins and friends; everyone is extremely supportive. I bet there were much hardships initially on the way but they are never touched upon. The main focus is on the dream of getting the human organ. We see all the things and artifacts Siggi has made in penis shape including Christmas cutlery and his bowties made from sperm whale penis skin, he notes that his focus has always been on removing the taboo from the male genitalia, a naturalist’s instinct that seems both noble and poignant, given that his own health has begun to falter. The documentary feels surreal and funny but is also so true. It is a very soundly made documentary and focuses on some really interesting material. It's funny and heartfelt, more so than you could ever expect a movie about a penis museum to be. (7/10)
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