MR ORGAN – Review by Nadine Whitney
“If he went down to Hell, Satan would be up knocking on God’s door saying get me away from Michael,” says one of the interviewees in David Farrier’s wildly disturbing documentary Mister Organ. New Zealand journalist and documentarian, Farrier isn’t afraid to deal with odd people – for example in Tickled or his Netflix series Dark Tourist, but little did he know that when he started investigating some predatory wheel-clamping in a posh suburb in Auckland, he’d attract the attention of one of New Zealand’s most psychologically dangerous men – Michael Organ (AKA Micheal Organe, AKA Michael Organ-fake-made-up-royal-lineage). In 2016 he accidentally invited the devil to his doorstep and even now Farrier is trying to escape him.
Farrier is a documentarian who has a tendency to insert himself into whatever is happening around him. However, he didn’t quite realise what he was doing when he decided to go down the rabbit-hole with Michael Organ, a man whose very name can strike fear into anyone who has had the misfortune to deal with him. Organ is a fantasist, a narcissist, a liar with a tenuous grip on reality: more than that, he has the tenacity and laser focussed vision to go after people and wage warfare on them until they are driven to the brink of madness. Farrier’s documentary takes the audience through his multiple victims while we also watch Farrier become one.
What began as Farrier noticing something was off with the tyre clamping in the parking lot of Bradford Antiques (owned by Jillian Bradford, Organ’s at the time meal ticket) is just the beginning of a journey through the nine circles of hell for him. Connecting the dots with the overly litigious Organ he realises the man has a monomania for destroying anyone he feels offended him. The most famous example was when he stole the yacht owned by a property owner who closed down Organ’s sex shop for non-payment of rent. Organ was convicted of the crime, but he denies it to this day despite going to prison for it.
The list of Organ’s victims is extensive. From assault to psychological torment, there is little the bizarre man won’t do to exert his power. His family is afraid of him, there are people who refused to appear on camera because of fear of reprisal. Those who did are probably wondering if their number is going to be called. Part way through the documentary Organ reveals he has the key to Farrier’s house. He frames it as a mystery and suggests that perhaps someone Farrier knows shouldn’t be trusted. Farrier sinks into something between paranoia and intense boredom with having to deal with Organ and his outlandish claims. Yet, his paranoia should have trumped his boredom, because Organ is a puppet-master who somehow bends people to his will.
Mister Organ is the kind of documentary one needs to experience along with Farrier. When Farrier isn’t feeling as threatened as he should be (and he should feel threatened) a new piece of information pops up to further expand on Organ’s grip over people and the numerous ways he has ruined lives. How does he do it? One interviewee says he picks victims and “Softens them up. Poisons people up. Then shoots them down in flames.” Suicides and prison sentences are just part of the trail of destruction Organ leaves. He is a cult of his own making. Farrier admits at one point, “He’s just better at this than I am.” Considering that Farrier trapped himself into a symbiotic relationship with a damaged man (he’d taken funding for the documentary and had to complete it) it can be noted that perhaps there is a question of whom is exploiting whom in their exchanges.
Mister Organ serves in some manner as a warning. Michael Organ has the status of an urban legend to those who have dealt with him. Farrier pointed a stick at a snake and was surprised when it rose up and tried to bite him. Nevertheless, the documentary is a fascinating portrait of a disturbed and disturbing man, and Farrier is still paying a psychological and fiscal price for awakening Organ’s wrath. To this day Organ is trying to stop the documentary, but Farrier keeps going and has upended his life to escape the man whose life he walked in on.
