The Man Who Saw Too Much

Trisha Ziff's documentary focuses on one of the most provocative and uncommon visual artists of our times: Mexican tabloid photographer Enrique Metinides, whose specialty involves photographing people who were either killed or injured in a grisly manner. Now in his 80s, Metinides casually notes that he photographed between 30 and 40 corpses a day during his career. Metinides embarked on this unlikely photographic career when he was only 9, with a photograph of a morgue superintendent displaying a murder victim's severed head. From there, his obsession with the dead blossomed—a fascination that he credits to his childhood love of crime movies. Ziff presents much of Metinides's photography in a manner that highlights the artistry of his composition rather than the grotesque and horrifying aspects of his imagery. Perhaps not surprisingly, Metinides comes across as a rather peculiar individual, seemingly indifferent to the point of numbness about both his work and the wider world. “I would like to have been at 9/11,” he says without any sense of emotion. While squeamish viewers will likely want to avoid this, those with stronger stomachs and curiosity about what makes odd characters tick will appreciate this Ariel Award (Mexico's version of the Oscars) winning documentary. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)