The Aristocrats (2005)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Excellent, a Must See

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

I had no idea what this was about -- I was just going with a group of friends to a movie a couple of them wanted to see. I love stand up comedy, improv, skits etc. But this isn't a comedy. It's a capture of a piece of history. If they did a movie about the history of stripping, you'd expect to see good and bad stripping scenes, but you wouldn't have the expectation that you'd be seeing porn. Very similar with this movie. It's not comedy. It's the history of a joke (The Aristocrats) and the seeming fact that every comedian knows the joke and has their version to tell. The documentary was cut as well as it could be to hold interest -- after all, we're sitting through a huge number of variations of the same joke. Personally I would have liked to see each comedian identified each time they appeared on the screen.

"The Aristocrats" is the most obscene film I've ever seen! You'll never see another documentary as horribly graphic in its language, yet so enjoyable to watch! It is a celebration of obscenity, comedy, and free speech. It is edgy, insensitive in every possible way, but that's what the joke is all about.To most people, making a whole film about one joke sounds idiotic, and with almost every other joke, it really is. However, the aristocrats joke is so interesting, and has been told so many times and in so many different ways that you mine as well make a film about it! And they did make a film about it, this film, 2005's "The Aristocrats".We watch comedian after comedian talk on and on about the history of this joke, their own variation of the joke, the joke's possible meaning, etc. And this joke just so happens to be the most ugly, disgusting, and unbelievable joke you've ever heard. It is the ultimate masterpiece of shock value!As you watch the film, listening to these comedians spewing offensive filth after offensive filth, and after a while, I just became desensitized by this filth, and the shock value of these obscenities began to fade away. The same thing happened to me during Stan Brakhage's experimental horror doc "The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes".In that film, we are shown over 30 minutes worth of autopsy footage that Brakhage, himself, filmed. While watching that film I, at first, was disgusted and disturbed by the graphic imagery, but this disturbance eventually turned into the desensitizing of the graphic material being exposed to the viewer.As I said, I had a similar experience with "The Aristocrats", it starts off as being the most disgusting junk you've ever heard in your entire life, but then you just become used to it and accept it. It just becomes...funny. That's what jokes are supposed to be, right! Well, this film is REALLY funny. It is the funniest documentary in recent years, and I'd highly recommend it to anybody interested in comedy. Even if you don't like the joke, you might love the film!

I've heard things much more shocking than what these comedians seem to think is so taboo. I've been all over the internet. I've seen and heard worse things.Maybe this film would be more funny to someone still sensitive to this type of material. Nearly every delivery of the joke is the same dull poo and incest joke. It's only worth a chuckle when a comedian gives a genuinely unique version of it, or has exceptionally good delivery. I didn't hear any versions that were racial. I get the feeling that would be taking it too far for the people being interviewed here, which is hypocritical. The joke gets its humor from how offensive it is, supposedly.In fact, most of the versions I laughed at weren't particularly "offensive" compared to the rest.Steven Wright, Lewis Black, George Carlin, and Sarah Silverman were the only comedians I enjoyed.

Now, that I give this any score at all is down to the fact that it is an interesting project. Yes, I know, a bit of a cop out, that word, 'interesting', but what can I say, it surely isn't funny. Well, there are funny bits and for me that was Robin Williams, who told a different joke and the lady who reversed the joke, giving a very angelic scenario an elongated and most obscene title. I also liked the Eric Idle segments but he managed to undermine the whole project by (quite rightly) suggesting that in England we expect the aristocracy to behave this way. It also made me think of de Sade and caused me to ponder whether any of these turgid, self congratulatory pieces measured up to that gentle aristocrat's activities and I concluded in the negative. Whether there ever was any such joke and whether many people find this funny is not as interesting as the obvious fact that so many of those appearing really did get a lot of fun by talking dirty. That some should be as amused as this by simply saying words considered rude or talking of body fluids, rape and child abuse in this way must reflect one heck of a lot of pent up emotion. Maybe a bunch of psychiatrists should contribute to a documentary in response.