Mister Organ: One of the Most Unsettling Documentaries Ever Seen
A parking dispute leads further
Mister Organ, directed by Auckland journalist David Farrier, opens with his reporting on Bashford Antiques in Ponsonby. The shop had begun clamping cars in its lot and demanding large fees to release them, reaching as high as $760.
Farrier’s article for The Spinoff eventually prompted the government to introduce legislation against extreme clamping fees. The story might have ended there, but the investigation focused attention on Michael Organ, who had been hired to oversee the lot.
Organ’s past raises questions
As Farrier investigates, he finds that Organ’s history extends beyond the parking dispute. Years earlier, Organ had been charged with trying to steal a yacht through an elaborate scheme.
Organ also claimed to be a prince and a lawyer, though he was neither. Conversations with people who knew him, along with Farrier’s own encounters, shape the film’s portrait of a man who left others traumatized.
The story turns threatening
The documentary grows more tense when Organ tells Farrier he has obtained a key to Farrier’s home and warns him to be careful. The film shifts from an account of an alleged conman toward a more personal story of intimidation.
Farrier eventually felt he had to leave the country to protect himself from what the story describes as Organ’s harassment and gaslighting. The film presents the experience as a psychological-horror-like ordeal.
Key points
- Farrier’s reporting on Bashford Antiques helped prompt legislation against extreme clamping fees.
- Michael Organ had been hired to police the shop’s parking lot.
- Organ had claimed to be a prince and a lawyer, though he was neither.
- Farrier eventually left the country, citing the need to protect himself from Organ’s harassment.