This film gives us a window into the life of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who, at 98 years old, is now a retired medical examiner. Dr. Noguchi served as the chief medical examiner of Los Angeles from 1967 to 1982, and was ultimately forced to leave his position due to political complications.
Noguchi has left his mark on the world of forensics, especially considering the fact that his work inspired the fictional television medical examiner Quincy. Despite his acclaim, Noguchi was notoriously known as a quiet and reserved individual, particularly when compared to his contemporaries. His discipline towards his work, which included the murder of Marilyn Monroe, the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, Sharon Tate, William Holden, the death of Natalie Wood, and even John Belushi, earned him the title of “corner.”
As some people claimed a version of the story claiming him to be an attention seeker, it would appear the truth is simply that ‘matter of fact’ candor rubbed people the wrong way, especially given the context of his work within a city filled with deceit and guarded celebrities.
Noguchi was a man who firmly believed that every death had a lesson to tell. He ensured he only adhered to the truth whenever he had to narrate an incident.
People had different perspectives towards harsh truths. Unlike others, William Holden and Natalie Wood’s unabashedly met the truth of their demise, absorbing life’s libations. This singular utterance alone could have triggered Frank Sinatra’s tell-all vendetta against him with Hollywood. Sinatra took the lead in an offensively successful effort to have him removed from his post. Every pleasant voice in the society went ghostly bizarre after this incident.
His life was without a cause after he was seen boarding every media platform imaginable, retiring from UCLA and USC on a professorship which he was awarded via numerous mediums, exhibiting wisdom through culinary spectacles. ‘The Untouchables’, crowned with ‘Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure’, refused to offer anything beyond accolades of appreciation during his lifetime. Strangely incomparable in silence like a man whose imprints have lingered onto the realm of forensic exploration, only silenced perhaps in 1999, through tangled speech.
Ideno’s and Hethcoat’s narrational brilliance blended the consequence of contradictory racism onto Noguchi’s life into a neutral lens, omnipresent met politics stealthily in the blood of medicine.
Applauding smartness, transformation, and quiet nurture, Coroner to the Stars extends recognition to its brilliant namesake just as it’s stunning gent.
The film is just starting its festival circuit and is surely one to look out for at a festival near you. Coroner to the Stars combines archival footage, interviews, and history both known and unknown to create the life narrative of a man whose work brought forensic science into the light and transformed it for the future.
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