For the Love of Spock

Dir: Adam Nimoy

2016

****

Adam Nimoy, son of the great Leonard Nimoy, had started working on a documentary with his father about the beloved character Mr. Spock in 2014 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Star. It was to focus on the popularity of the character, what made him so popular and the cultural impact he had back then and what it has led to today. Sadly, Leonard Nimoy passed away in 2015 and the globe’s sci-fi fans lost a true hero. Adam Nimoy was determined to continue the project in tribute of his father and because he knew it is what he would have wanted him to do. However, the film because less about Mr Spock and more about the man behind the pointy ears. Adam Nimoy is very honest in his depiction of his father and this certainly isn’t the rose-tinted ‘can do no wrong’ sort of documentary you’d expect from a film about someone who has just died. Adam reveals that he and his father had a very rocky relationship, which gives the audience a very human side to the story and a level of believability. Unlike most documentaries of this nature, For The Love of Spock is free of Hollywood stories of name-dropping and outrageous parties, Nimoy was a grafter and when he wasn’t working he was with his family. Adam widened the original idea to also include examples of other productions Leonard was involved in, something that would cost a great deal of money but was raised easily through crowdfunding, making it the most successful crowdfunded film at the time. The fact that Adam appeared as himself in an episode of The Big Bang Theory and talked about the interview helped hugely, but it is safe to say that the hard-core Trekkies also dug deep, they probably learned nothing they didn’t already know but donated out of love and respect. The archive footage in the film is phenomenal and will please Star Trek fans in particular but Nimoy’s early work is also quite spectacular. Interviewees include William Shatner, George Takei, Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols from the original series of Star Trek, as well as Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto from the remake film series. Quinto, who played the updated version of Spock, was set to narrate the film but after so much archive footage emerged narration wasn’t really necessary and it was more apt for Adam to say what was needed. Celebrity Star Trek fans Jim Parsons, Jason Alexander, Neil deGrasse Tyson and J.J. Abrams may not be obviously connected to Nimoy but their interviews serve a purpose and are very entertaining. The interesting thing about the interviews with the new Star Trek cast in contrast to the original is how they all speak of Nimoy. The younger cast are quite gushing, clearly in awe but also speaking of someone they respected, met but never really knew. The original cast are clearly heartbroken and there are times when they clearly find it hard speaking to their late friend’s son so soon after his passing. There is a great sadness to the film but also a great honesty. Nothing is sugar-coated, I feel like I have genuinely learned the truth about one of my childhood heroes and I’m not at all disappointed. The tension, love and friction between Adam and his father never gets in the way of the celebration of his life but it certainly grounds the film. In a funny sort of way the fans play a huge part in the overall story and are almost like a third character, which is maybe why its appeal is wider than the usual fan documentary. Mr Spock’s humanism was always in question in the original show, and it is fascinating how Adam’s documentary compares his father’s humanism with his characters’ without white-washing, sugar-coating, insulting or holding back. Tender, raw, respectful and thought-provoking, it’s an unexpectedly refreshing tribute and exactly the sort of thing the great man himself probably would have approved of but would never have been able to make himself.