Andy Kaufman (1949-??) was not only a comedian and a sitcom star, but also a performance artist and provocateur who kept flexing the boundaries of expression, reality and good taste, playing with his countless “multi-personas” without any trace of self-preservation. The man was funny when he wanted to be – but he often didn’t. Alongside recent interviews with close friends and colleagues, this carefully crafted new documentary unearths a bewildering amount of incredibly fascinating archival material. Some of the footage seems strangely familiar, thanks to the biopic Man on the Moon (1999), directed by Miloš Forman who visited Sodankylä in 2008. At times it feels as if we were watching a chubbier, clumsier variation of Jim Carrey’s iconic role – and Kaufman himself would surely have loved this extra meta-reflection of prevailing realities!
The debate still continues around the fate of Kaufman, who was able to transform from a sensitive boy from Long Island into a lewd nightclub singer Tony Clifton; a disgraced bully who challenged women to freestyle wrestling matches, lined with overly chauvinistic slurs; and a revolutionary who deliberately stretched the stand-up comedians’ precious “laugh intervals” into minutes. Even those closest to him offer no definitive answer. So, what would be a better place to make a comeback after a “40-year” break than to make an appearance to introduce this documentary in Sodankylä…
Lauri Timonen