Whether the issue at hand be gun control, eating habits, distant wars or religious extremism, the documentary genre has been enjoying a popular revival these last 10 years. Exemplars have garnered attention beyond the art-house circuit, often entering the mainstream. Topics have ranged from the serious to the even more serious, using the nonfiction form to expose harsh realities. But in the summer of 2007, an unassuming documentary emerged. One that did not seek to illuminate any greater truth other than the universal spirit of competition. That documentary was called “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarter.”
Today, Melnitz Movies will present “King of Kong” along with a Q&A session with director Seth Gordon and producer Ed Cunningham. “King of Kong” chronicles the battle for the highest score in “Donkey Kong” ““ a classic arcade game that introduced Mario and the titular ape into the annals of interactive entertainment history. Steve Wiebe, a math and science high school teacher, and Billy Mitchell, an entrepreneur and arcade celebrity, are the rival parties in this battle for video game supremacy.
Since its theatrical opening last year, the unconventional documentary has become successful both critically and commercially.
“I don’t know that we ever could have expected some of the things that happened along the way and the amounts of overwhelmingly positive feedback about the film,” Cunningham said.
“Back in the dark days of cutting this thing down from the 400 hours of rough footage to 84 minutes, I don’t know that we ever could have foreseen the acceptance the film has gotten in that pop culture kind of way.”
For Cunningham, crafting the documentary was a nostalgic process.
“It was almost hypnotic because I grew up on the arcades, and that was my first experience with video games: dropping quarters at my local 7-Eleven.”
Yet it was also an enjoyable voyage in discovery, allowing him to learn about a niche of gamers that was at once fascinating and previously unknown.
“It was intoxicating to be in and amongst such eccentric smart people,” Cunningham said. “I think we’ve all, at one point in our lives, run across a group of people that we didn’t know really existed.”
“This whole world is opened up to you that is just different than your world, your little clique, the little bubble you made around yourself.”
Indeed, a large part of the film’s charm lies precisely with the unusual and endearing protagonists.
“You get behind the characters and watch them be so quirky and so fanatic about their hobby, taking it to the extreme,” said Sara Lohman, director of Melnitz Movies.
The documentary’s idiosyncratic subject matter often inspires unfair preconceptions in potential audience members. Nevertheless, the filmmakers find that its vigorous storytelling usually subverts whatever prior bias a viewer might hold against it.
“When you read the marketing material, or someone is telling you about it, for whatever reason, you come up in your mind with what it’s going to be,” Cunningham said.
“And then, time and time again, I think people are a little surprised at how dramatic the story is and how much you end up kind of rooting for the people within the film.”
Many moviegoers have already had the chance to experience such a surprise since the documentary’s release on DVD in January. But despite its wide availability for home viewing, Cunningham stresses that “King of Kong” should still be viewed inside a theater.
“With an audience, it is a different experience,” he said. “It doesn’t make it better ““ or worse ““ it just makes it different because you’re with a group of people who will kind of go in the same line at the same time. It can be really energetic and fun to be part of that.”
For students, tonight’s screening should provide a chance to revisit the charming arcade world of Twin Galaxies, Donkey Kong, Wiebe and Mitchell.
“It has great characters, a great story line, and it just harkens back to all those old video games that we used to play as kids,” Lohman said. “So it’s fun, first for the story and also for the nostalgia.”
Because of its familiar, classic subject matter, Cunningham urges potential viewers not to feel like they already know the film.
“Don’t think of it as a video-game movie, don’t think of it as a documentary, don’t think of it as comedy,” Cunningham said. “Just throw away your expectations and walk in with an open mind.”