Ushering in an imaginative era of Torontonian film and bound to be a Canadian cult classic, The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man reaches Kingston.
Braden Sitter Sr.’s genre-defying film, The Pee Pee Poo Man, came to the Screening Room for one night only on Nov. 25, featuring an exclusive post-screening Q&A with director Sitter Sr. and lead actor, Spencer Rice. Produced by Sitter Sr. under the moniker Eh24—a playful nod to the renowned production company A24—the film exemplifies the bursting potential of the Canadian film scene.
Following the footsteps of films like Brother (2022), Mommy (2014), and I Like Movies (2022), Sitter Sr.’s new experimental and psychedelic film, The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man, adds a distinctive voice to Canada’s cinematic landscape.
The Pee Pee Poo Man is bizarre, experimental, and symptomatic of a new wave of Toronto’s underground film scene that’s shaking traditions by returning a delightful strangeness to the Canadian film canon.
The film is loosely based on the man who thrust Toronto into chaos in 2019 after throwing liquified feces on students at York University and the University of Toronto. After three attacks in four days, he began to be known around the city as “The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man.” The movie brings a hypothetical tale of what could’ve possibly inspired these disturbing attacks.
The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man begins with a lonely, odd, and unemployed man named Miguel who seems to carry a disdain for Toronto and those around him, making it hard for him to hold a job and fit into society. Eventually, he takes LSD and falls into a horrific paranoia believing the Central Intelligence Agency is after him. The constant layered shots immerse viewers into Miguel’s overwhelming stimulation and confusion with the world.
Miguel’s descent into madness is effective, drawing audiences into his unraveling mental state as he becomes increasingly disturbed by seemingly mundane occurrences, like a spoon in his sink or someone asking him for directions to the CN Tower.
The Q&A following the screening was filmed on the same hand-held camera the movie was shot on. During the session, Sitter Sr. reflected on his process of trying to shape the motivations behind Miguel’s feces hurling journey.
“I kept thinking about why a guy would do something like this? Why would I ever do something like this? If it were a Holy Mission, you would have to,” Sitter Sr. said to the audience.
In the film, Miguel sees a vision which inspires his poop-fuelled mission, leaving him with a twisted sense of purpose. Miguel begins mixing feces and urine and pouring it on people around Toronto, leaving his victims gagging, crying, and confused. After he dumps his horrifying mixture, he runs away giggling. He embodies both an alienated jokester and a threatening oddball who roams Toronto rejecting any form of societal confines.
During the Q&A, Sitter Sr. elaborated on why he chose to create a film about a man who throws feces on oblivious Toronto citizens.
“I didn’t want to make a true crime movie. I found myself thinking about it a lot [The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man’s gross assaults]. It became very generative, and it gave me more ideas as I went on,” Sitter Sr. said.
The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man serves as a unique ode to Toronto with scenes filmed all over the city and many references to the CN Tower.
At its core, the film is a humorous take on Toronto’s bizarre lore. Film is alive and thriving in Toronto with the city being the film capital of Canada and home to the renowned Toronto International Film Festival, where many celebrated films have premiered.
Sitter Sr.’s film provides a refreshing and interesting story to Canada’s booming film scene, holding a personal note with the city by embellishing this strange occurrence.
In one standout scene. two girls argue on a bench, with one girl hoping the Pee Pee Poo Poo man comes for her friend next. The scene humourously encapsulates how the bizarre attacks became fictionalized and even trivialized within the city while simultaneously critiquing the superficiality and disconnections of contemporary life.
The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man’s one night at the Screening Room was characterized by laughter and conversation. The theatre was completely sold out and almost everyone stuck around for the Q&A, reflecting a palpable sense of pride for the Canadian film.
The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man is destined to have a profound effect on Toronto’s strange, defiant, and unconventional cinematic style.
Tags
Braden Sitter Sr., Eh24, Film, The Pee Pee Poo Poo Man, Toronto film
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