Shadows on the Wall | Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose

Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose

dir-scr Adam Sigal
prd Sasha Yelaun, Karl Hall, Dominic Burns
with Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver, Christopher Lloyd, Tim Downie, Paul Kaye, Gary Beadle, Jessica Balmer, Ruth Connell, Emilio Calcioli, Edmund Kingsley, Drew Moerlein, Neil Gaiman
release US 1.Sep.23
UK/23 1h36

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Based on a quirky true story, this wry British comedy playfully explores belief in the supernatural. Brightly well-produced, the film has a jaunty tone, sparky characters and a script that knowingly floats the idea that what is happening must be a clumsy hoax. But writer-director Adam Sigal suggests that objective truth can be a matter of perspective, and the more important question is why we see things so differently.

In 1937 London, Hungarian parapsychologist Nandor (Pegg) and his assistant Anne (Driver) receive random requests from around the world, and Nandor becomes intrigued by a psychic talking mongoose on the Isle of Man. Dr Harry (Lloyd) has already looked into the case, and suspects ventriloquism. But locals believe Gef (voiced by Gaiman) is real, even though he only speaks out of sight. Gef's hosts are James (Downie), his wife Margaret (Connell) and their teen daughter Voirrey (Balmer), who spin fanciful stories about his antics even as he remains elusively out of sight.

Opening with a brief history of animals that can speak, the film dives into this goofy story with its tongue in its cheek. Gef's story that he's a spirit from India is flatly absurd, and yet there's no apparent motive or financial gain involved. The family's gamesman (Beadle) flatly says that there is no Gef. And Voirrey shows Anne how adept she is at throwing her voice. And yet people love Gef, there are unexplainable goings-on, and the cast and crew delight in grounding events with humour while maintaining the mystery.

Performances are broad but remain just about believable, thanks to the deadpan dialog. Even with his odd accent, Pegg is likeable as the too-smart Nandor, who believes all this can be is mass hysteria. But he pleads for physical proof, even as he wonders if a simpler life as a lawyer would make him happier. By contrast, Driver's perky Anne doesn't require proof at all. Downie, Connell and Balmer's James are chatty and eccentric as Gef's human family. And Kaye is enjoyably colourful as grizzled pub owner Maurice.

Nandor's continuous scepticism echoes our own, playing along with people he clearly views as cranks. Nothing we see on-screen is convincing, and yet it's impossible not to be drawn into these events. Is this because we have a longing to believe in something seemingly impossible? Would we be happier if we allowed ourself to accept things we can't understand? The point is that Gef is not imaginary: whatever he might be, he most surely exists.

themes, language 30.Aug.23

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