The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy

2009 documentary

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A guy takes some water, some writing material, a few books, a piece of plastic to use for a tent, and a desire to die into the woods. He eats nothing for a few months and dies. A trucker stops to take a piss in the woods and discovers his body. No, maybe that was the Lindbergh baby.

You know what this is? It's a really good book-on-tape. It's not a great documentary, especially visually as it's just a random series of images to accompany the guy's diary. The images, like a half-assed collage, grew a little pretentious, and you can wait for them to develop and add up to something insightful but they never really do. Still, the text is so gripping that the experience is worth it. I do wonder how we're supposed to think about this guy, however. I imagine a lot of readers (or viewers or, listening to my recommendation, just listeners) are going to see this as some act of courage, and I don't think that's fair to either insects or mummies. The insight and honesty of the starving man was fascinating to me though. There are these moments in the writing where he knows it's his last chance to back out of the plan, and that there isn't much of a conflict between his desire to die and a human being's natural will to live is really depressing.

By the way, it should be noted that I enjoyed a bowl of clam chowder while watching this movie. Chased it down with a large portion of banana pudding.