Otto; or Up with the Dead People

I have never watched a film that is as wonderfully weird as this one.

Based on the brief interview with the film’s director, Bruce LaBruce, after the film, I can say that this film has typical properties of a road film, is about alienation and is open to different interpretations on several issues in the film.

Otto; or Up with the Dead People is a road film. Otto, is like a bildungsroman character. At the beginning of the film, he acts like he is new to life. He does not remember his past. He is in wrecked clothes. He does not have a concept of home. He wanders around as if he is unaware of the world around him. Actually, he made me remember Travis’ state at the beginning of Paris, Texas; he is lost in time, space and in his own being. He is on a journey, which he (and we, as the audience) will learn about his past and who he really was.

This film is mainly about alienation. Otto was a vegetarian. He was gay. He was happy. Now he has an identity crisis. He thinks he is dead, a zombie. He is definitely not a vegetarian. He eats lots of meat since he thinks he is a zombie. He is still gay, but he is not happy anymore. He realizes he does not really fit in anywhere now. He had an alienation. He became a stranger to the society he was living in. There are many references in the film that highlights Otto’s alienation from the people once he was living together with.
This alienation is a reflection of Bruce LaBruce's own alienation in his life. During the interview he told us that he and his friends were gay punks. Since they were gay, they felt like they did not really fit in among other punks and since they were punks, they did not really fit in among other gays.

Film is open to interpretations on several issues. First, there is nothing in the film that shows us whether Otto is really a zombie or not. This is something that is left to audience’s interpretation. Second, there is a female director in the film that makes a political zombie movie. She makes some political comments throughout the film. However, we cannot be sure whether Bruce LaBruce tries to be serious with these comments or he is actually making fun of them.

I enjoyed a lot the concept of “gay zombies” and the fact that all the characters in the film are either gay or we do not know about their sexual preferences. There is also a character that is only shown as if she is from an old black&white film all the time, which was a nice detail. Finally, the road movie elements and the gradual reveal of the reasons for Otto’s alienation and his past is beautifully done.
This film was one of the most interesting films I have ever watched, and one of my favorite films ever today. The film is not only weird in a funny way, but also succeeds at being meaningfully sad. And when something is both funny and sad at the same time, I am in all the way.