Fasten your seat belts and put your flashiest sunglasses on before boarding on Uri Marantz' train to the glitzy world of drug-fuelled funfair based on a true story about a man who got away with it all. Before you get tempted to draw any parallels to Walter White, a loveable but fictive character created for the popular TV series “Breaking Bad” starring the one and only Brian Cranston, hold your horses: the man whose name was changed to Gabi (Oshri Cohen) to protect his identity, is really like you and me. Furthermore, unlike Walter, he didn't find a way and means to produce a known drug to earn a significant amount of cash, instead he invented a legal psychoactive drug from Cathinonec, a completely new substance, through his knowledge of chemistry and the need to feed his own personal beast.
King Khat screened at Tallinn Black Nights
As an outspoken advocate for legalization of drugs, Marantz doesn't hide his admiration for the person who inspired him for his offbeat animated docu-fiction “King Khat” that has recently celebrated its international premiere in the Rebels With A Cause competition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. He isn't recommending that particular lifestyle at all though, aware that what we see on screen may be the product of his admiration for the person he knows intimately, but not a path to be followed by anyone who would want to live long enough to see their offspring growing up.
The film was done in a wonderful mix of animation and acted scenes, shot with a green screen. Marantz originally opted for animation as a means of protecting Gabi's real identity, but the motives have changed in the process. Animation, according to the helmer himself proved to be a more fruitful tool to bring the crazy world of hallucinations, chaos and wild encounters of oddballs together. “King Khat” is less William S. Burroughs thorugh the eyes of Cronenberg and Terry Gilliam and more of a collection of David La Chapelle music videos or a substance-loaded journey through the famous art collections: Grant Wood's “American Gothic” (1930) meets Jan Van Eyck's “Amolfini Portrait” on the Ferris Wheel in a very much re-arranged compositions that speak to the film's plot. Also, in an admittedly very much (film-wise) exploited Da Vinci's “Last Supper” motive, we are given a chance to meet ‘Jesus' with his freshly baked apostles of dope: “I had about ten followers that spread the gospel all over town”, Gabi muses. Amen.
Check also this interview
A lot of humor is interwoven in the story that is actually much more about love than drugs. Gabi is brought to his senses by his architect wife Limor (Hadar Diamond) who spoke to him about Gaudi and Le Corbusier .
Regarding other strong elements of the film, it is impossible not to mention the original music ranging from Mozart's “Requiem” to the pop original score by Stav Levy and Noam Vardi, brought to harmony by the work of the sound department led by Neal Gibbs, the man behind Dani Rosenberg's “Vanishing Soldier” (2023) and Netflix TV series “Fauda”.
Marantz is good at placing a literal elephant in the room. He is following in Gabi's footsteps with a measured pace, but unafraid of showing his real face hidden behind the pseudonym. When we finally get to know the chain of his success, we are introduced to a dealer by the name of Dimitry who was successful with the distribution of pills in Amsterdam's smartshops. “There are no smartshops in Israel, but there are all night kiosks” explains the voice-over who leads us through the film from the beginning to the end. The good man Dimitry bought 10.000 empty capsules and filled them with the powder on his own. And that was, briefly, the beginning of Gabi's success, wonderfully given through a game of Monopoly that he, together with his friends is ‘playing' to make everyone aware of the scope of his blooming business.
Uri Marantz unusual documentary (and he will fight you about precisely that cathegory with his life) is one of the most original movies of 2023. We hope that it will travel the world.
