Pucker Up (2005)
Is there anything more annoying
than some absent-minded idiot sitting next to you
whistling away? Well, yeah. There are a lot of things
that are more annoying. But when it goes on for ninety
minutes, it's hard to think of one because your mind
is cringing and unable to function while some imbecile
sits next to you whistling out his happy little tune
that no one wants to hear but him. This is pretty
much what sitting through "Pucker Up," a documentary
about competition whistlers is like.
These aren't people who whistle
bird calls, although that subspecies is touched upon
for a brief minute in this film. No, bird whistlers
are bearable because, at least, their annoyance is
limited to the few seconds it takes to imitate a bird.
The subjects of this film whistle songs. Long songs.
Classical and pop songs. It goes on and on and on.
And while one or two of them are actually entertaining,
the majority of them are as annoying as fingernails
on a chalkboard.
Filmmakers Kate Davis and David
Heilbroner focus on an international whistling competition
in "Pucker Up" but, of course, also get into the history
of whistling, its mechanics and, of course, biographical
information of the contestants. There are clips of
several old film, including an Elvis movie and a Monty
Python film, to aid in the historical conversations.
There's even some loving looks at The Marx Brothers,
in particular Harpo, who used whistling to entertain
and to convey information, since he supposedly could
not speak. And to top it off, there's a look at a
foreign culture that uses whistling as language. These
moments are interesting.
Another aside is about how whistling
sometimes has a sinister connotation, including the
"whizzing" of bullets and bombs and a couple of serial
killers who have been known for puckering up and blowing
while committing their crimes. Again, this look at
the subject can be quite compelling.
But the majority of this film is
just watching the competition and learning about the
nut-jobs who are involved in competition whistling.
These guys are about as interesting as talking to
someone's crazy uncle when your invited to a friend's
family reunion and your buddy takes off leaving you
easy prey for the family oddball to talk your ear
off. It's enough to make you run off screaming all
the way up the aisle.
Notes:
One of the participants in the film,
Thomas Bryant, has a website at www.whistlingtom.com
Viewed at SXSW in March 2005.
