Directed by Various
Review by David Carter


Released by Mint Records
Running Time: 330 minutes +
Rating: Not Rated
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: 2.0 Stereo English
Region Code: 1, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: Full Frame
16:9 Enhanced: No
Special Features: Commentary, music videos by the Evaporators, bonus interview footage, Easter eggs, more
Trailer Online: Yes

NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE: WELCOME TO MY CASTLE starts off with a scene that is redundantly titular: Nardwuar, the Human Serviette playing the song “Welcome to My Castle” with his band the Evaporators. The song consists of a brief riff played over and over while Nardwuar’s high-pitched screech proclaims “welcome to my castle!” incessantly. Eventually it stops, but several minutes after I hoped it would.

This scene is essentially “the joke” of Nardwuar, the British Colombia based DJ, musician, and Canadian psuedo-celebrity. His claim to fame is a penchant for getting interviews with famous musicians and important world figures and then annoying them. Perhaps annoying them isn’t the appropriate term; Nardwuar is far more polite than fellow Canadian guerilla interviewer Tom Green. He interviews people with a surprisingly high level of enthusiasm and an often off-putting knowledge about them. He’s able to bring up obscurities from a musician’s past that possibly even they don’t remember. A good example of the level of detail Nardwuar is capable of is when he left Kurt Cobain stunned by knowing the name of a band that one of his childhood friend’s father was in.

Nardwuar is constantly friendly, but he seems to go easier on celebrities that he likes or those that go along with the obvious joke. Unfortunately, most of the time he’s taken all too seriously by his subjects, who in response are angered either by his tactics or the general appearance of disrespect. Much of the WELCOME TO MY CASTLE DVD is made up of these moments, which depending on your sense of humor you’ll either find to be hilarious or insufferable. A good indicator of whether or not you’ll like a given interview is whether or not you like the subject. You probably won’t mind when Nardwuar annoys someone you’ve never heard of, but it can be painful to see the displeasure on the face of a musician or politician you respect as they try to find a polite way to escape him.

As mentioned before, the “Welcome to My Castle” song is “the joke” of Nardwuar made evident: he’s turning his grating technique on the audience in an effort to see if you’ll laugh along with him or take it seriously, missing the joke. If you like that, you’ll love the rest of the DVD. Clocking in at over five hours of interviews, videos, and general Nardwuar-ness, WELCOME TO MY CASTLE is a voluminous look at the man that may best handled by existing fans. It’s hard to imagine sitting through five hours of this if it’s your first time and Nardwuar is perhaps best experienced in small doses.

I’ll admit my bias: ambush interviews just aren’t my thing. I don’t think they are funny. I do have to admit that Nardwuar has a certain charm, however. He seems like a genuinely nice and fun person, and the segments when his subjects go along with him can be quite funny. Additionally, this set includes non-interview segments that hit more often than they miss. I get the feeling that Nardwuar is actually a pretty clever guy with a bit of an odd sense of humor that just might not resonate with me. This is evident by the few videos from the Evaporators latest album on the DVD. Gone are the high-pitched whine and repetitive lyrics and in their place are some surprisingly catchy and funny pop songs, so not everything is a joke to him. Nardwuar fans will love this two disc set, every one else should probably visit his website to learn more about him before submitting themselves to five hours of the man.

For you Americans out there (of which FF.com staff is included), “serviette” is a Canadian term for a napkin.