Hot Doc: F*ck

Fuck is a 90 minute long documentary that offers and in-depth examination one of the most popular and offensive words in the English language. It is directed by Steve Anderson, who made an ambitious debut at the 2003 American Film Institute Film Festival with his narrative feature, The Big Empty (starring John Favreau, Daryl Hannah, Joey Lauren Adams, and Kelsey Grammar), which earned him comparisons to the likes of David Lynch and The Cohen Bothers. Prior to his directorial debut, Anderson was a cameraman with a Peabody Award and thousands of hours of broadcast television to his credit.

The word fuck is one of the most versatile words in the English language, able to be used as a noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, and virtually every word in a sentence (“Fuck the fucking fuckers”), as illustrated in the film via an animation by Bill Pylmpton. It is also the most expensive word in history, carrying a quarter of a million dollar fine for its use in public broadcast (which would also probably get you fired and make it difficult to find another job in public broadcast, one has the potential to destroy their career and financial future with a single syllable). One of the most popular words in the English language, ‘fuck’ has been used by everyone from the world’s most illiterate citizens to history’s greatest poets and playwrights (and is also utterly despised by an equally broad range of people). Fuck examines ‘fuck’ from a variety of angles, including religious (“Does God want us to say ‘fuck?’”), political (there is a real nice clip of President Bush using the word), historical (increased popularity during the world wars, it’s first appearance in print), and legal (the censorship controversy, Lenny Bruce), among others.

To cover this broad spectrum of topics, Anderson has assembled a diverse cast to offer their opinions and set to rest rumors about the four letter word. Among the interviewees are renowned language scholars such as Geoffrey Nunberg (language researcher and professor at Stanford) and Jesse Scheidlower (editor o the Oxford English Dictionary); conservative media personalities – Alan Keyes and Judith ‘Miss Manners’ Martin; non-conservative media personalities – Bill Maher; porn stars (Ron Jeremy, Tera Patrick), rock stars (Public Enemy’s Chuck D, Alanis Morrisette, Pat Boone), and one man who is both (Evan Sienfeld – bassist/vocalist for Biohazard, porn star, and Oz alumni); Comedians – Drew Carey, Janeane Garofalo; and filmmakers – Kevin Smith (Clerks) and David Milch (Deadwood). With this broad spectrum of personality on display, one does not need to imagine that there is no shortage of memorable moments and quotes. Comedian Billy Connolly offers some of the funniest, among them recounting the first utterance of the word ‘fuck,’ as burped out by a ‘primordial swamp.’ Rapper Ice-T gives his own bizarre perspective on the word’s personal meaning to him. The rumor that ‘fuck’ is actually and acronym for ‘Fornication Under Consent of the King’ is put to rest (fuck was never and acronym and has never in recorded history been anything besides a synonym for sexual copulation). The film contains interviews with and is appropriately dedicated to the late Hunter S. Thompson, who is a perfect embodiment of the amalgamation of progressive thinking and profanity that this film seeks to, and successfully, captures.

TH!NKFilm released F*ck exclusively on November 10th with a wider theatre release in the weeks to come.