The Man Whose Mind Exploded

This micro-budget documentary from Toby Amies is so much more than a portrait of a man living with mental illness; it's an affectionate tribute to an incorrigible and well-loved eccentric. A larger-than-life figure with his tattoos, piercings, waxed moustache and flamboyant attire, Drako Oho Zarharzar has lived quite the bohemian life, including a stint modelling for Salvador Dali. But two near-fatal accidents have left their mark on this septuagenarian, who now lives with a condition known as anterograde amnesia. So while he can recall events from the past, he struggles to form new memories. Much of the film is shot on a single camera in Drako's Brighton council flat, a hoarder's paradise filled to the rafterswith notes, rubbish and pictures of well-endowed men - in effect, the jumbled contents of Drako's brain made manifest. Not that the squalor (or anything else for that matter) bothers this man; Drako's unfailing belief in his creed "Trust. Absolute. Unconditional." means that he remains untroubled by his helplessness. The genial Amies moves from being an impartial observer to a concerned friend and even a carer to this stubborn yet blissfully upbeat individual, whose infectious joie de vivre and rascally behaviour transcends what could have been a tragic story into something more life-affirming.