25 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
25 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
sick : the life and death of bob flanagan , supermasochist
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by fernando vallejo
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starring bob flanagan and sheree rose .
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interviews by kathe burkhart , kirby dick and rita valencia .
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produced and directed by kirby dick .
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running time : 90 mins .
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this film is not rated .
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the central themes of " sick : the life and death of bob flanagan , supermasochist " are pain and love , and its subsequent effect on a person's life .
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its protagonist , bob flanagan , who died at the age of 52 , suffered from cystic fibrosis , a mortal disease which debilitates the lungs by saturating them with thick coats of mucus , preventing him from normal breathing .
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the movie is about much more than recouperating ( or attempting to ) from this disease .
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an audacious , fabulously triumphant docudrama , " sick " chronicles the life of flanagan and his vicious , unthinkable acts of sadomasochism conducted with his mistress of 15 years , sheree rose , who amazingly provided much of the footage for the film .
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flanagan's idelogy crosses the realms of rebelliousness and becomes transcendental , similar to terry zwigoff's brilliant 1994 " crumb " , which also explored the dysfunction of an artist by painting not a sympathetic portrait , but a realistic one .
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both crumb and flanagan revelled in their defects .
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but flanagan was not only a man content on enduring the pain via lungs , he inflicted acts of pain on himself at a very young age , courageously defying god ( he was an irish catholic ) and turning his body into a work of art , which he unraveled in museums and lectures .
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behold these works of physical art .
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among them is a metal ball inserted inside his anus , and , --the most disturbing scene of the decade-- , nailing his penis to a board .
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flanagan was a man of great intelligence , wit and humor , as well as adopting a sense of candidness scarcely seen in modern filmmaking .
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not only did he approach his disease with humor , peforming burlesque acts in front of an audience , he was also revitalized by his approachment .
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most with cystic fibrosis do not make it past their earlier twenties ( there's also a subplot involving a female devotee who knew death was awaiting her .
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)
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but the most outstanding thing about " sick " is flanagan's relationship with sheree .
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brimming with honesty , sensual stimulation and unapologetically sad moments of pain , their powerful bond lifts " sick " into a rare cinematic high , where we forget we are in an auditorium and become a part of these people .
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the last scene , where we see the hero murmuring the last words to his wife in a hospital bed , as he struggles for his last moments of life , is raw , tender , hideous .
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it goes a step beyond cinematic intimacy .
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