I’ll make an admission of guilt here. I could not finish “If a Body Meet a Body.” Why? Well, it’s probably one of the most disgusting documentary shorts I’ve ever seen, and this is coming from a guy who comes from the US, the land of disgusting. A word of warning to all festival goers, watch this movie with an empty stomach, because you’ll be subjected to some of the most gruesome imagery, and what makes it an even odder experience is that the people who work in this line of profession really don’t seem to care too much about what they’re doing. They’re passionate about this job, and they work in the LA Coroner’s office, a branch of law enforcement that decodes and decrypts assorted mysterious deaths through a series of procedures like finger prints and identification from mangled body parts. In one of the more disgusting moments, Jose Hernandez washes a human hand that’s been burned and attempts to see if it’s the hand of a male or a female. Suffice it to say the queasiness and nausea ensued, and I had to move on to something else. I guess Davis’ film works for me to be able to see what they do and instantly turn away. It’s a grim and bleak look at people who do what we normally wouldn’t, because they have to find out why, and how.
Seriously, watch it on an empty stomach.
