N/C, 71 mins
Earthlings, about the devotees of the Star Trek-invented language Klingon, is best appreciated by Trekkies and linguists. Most of the interviewees are drawn from the Klingon Language Institute’s 2003 qep’a (that’s conference to you and me, or “ugly bags of mostly water” as the Klingons see us).
While never condescending, this talking-heads documentary inevitably finds geeky oddballs, including a lisping postal worker who wants to master the language to gain self-respect and a sense of belonging. Hearing this language, which sounds like a cross between something Slavic and a clogged waste disposal unit, you wonder if Italian might be an easier way to meet people.
IAN JOHNS