IM DANGEROUS WITH LOVE (Michel Negroponte, U.S.). 85 minutes. Thursday (May 6), 10 pm, Royal Saturday (May 8), 11:45 pm, Bloor. Rating: NNNN
Dimitri Mugianis used to be a junkie. These days he helps other addicts kick their heroin habit through the administration of the hallucinogen ibogaine, which disrupts the cycle of addiction by eliminating withdrawal symptoms and subsequent cravings. But there’s a catch: the rapid detox may also kill you, which is why ibogaine is illegal in America.
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Director Michel Negroponte (Jupiter’s Wife, Methadonia) follows Mugianis as he treats a series of patients, and accompanies his subject to Africa to research the drug’s origins and subject himself to a sort of shamanic purifying ritual.
The footage isn’t for the squeamish – there’s probably more vomiting in I’m Dangerous With Love than in all other Hot Docs entries combined – but it’s compelling stuff, even when Negroponte starts buying into the New Age aspects of psychedelic substances.
