It’s really hard to say why I liked this film. It’s like trying to explain to someone how cool a movie like Mulholland Drive or any David Lynch film is; they just won’t get it until they see it. Yet, I still don’t know who I could recommend this film to.
“In the Bathtub of the World” is a documentary in which filmmaker Caveh Zahedi decides that starting on January 1, 1999 he will film one minute a day for the entire year. This neat idea is quickly thrown out the window and Zahedi seems to film whenever he has time to grab the camera. Besides, a 365 minute film is really long!
As I said, I have no clue why this film compelled me to watch. It’s sort of like “The Real World” for the ultra-hip arty type. Zahedi just sort of ambles through his San Francisco life with troubled girlfriend Mandy. He and Mandy bicker, then make up. Zahedi does yoga and eats tomato salad. He works on film projects and then is called to appear in Richard Linklater’s film Waking Life.
All the while we get to know Zahedi as a man battling sex addiction and the craving of mass amounts of junk food. Zahedi is truly an odd person, but I somehow identified with him. Throughout this film I sat thinking, “what makes this guy think we want to see his life?” Yet at the end of the film I actually wanted to know even more about him and his life. See, doesn’t this sound like a film you want to watch?
