This movie was excellent. It is not only the film that I consider to be the best documentary of all time (tied with Bowling for Columbine), but also one of the best movies of all time.
Bob Flanagan was an interesting person, whom I only wish I could have had the pleasure to meet before he died (hey, I was only around 7 years old when he died.) He was a poet, artist, performance artist, counselor at a CF summer camp, and of course, a masochist.
It's sad that people refuse to see this film just because it involves S&M or because they think they couldn't handle it. In all honesty, the scenes of S&M aren't hard to watch at all. It's understandable if you have trouble watching the penis nailing scene (I didn't, by the way), but you can just look away and still come away from the film with the same effect. Those scenes aren't what make this movie so effective.
What made the film so effective was showing how friendly and funny Bob was. He wasn't evil or sadistic. He wasn't the kind of guy who kidnaps children and tortures them. He was an average guy (a very talented one at that) who just happened to have a different way of controlling his disease and pain.
But the thing that made this film so moving was the fact that you basically watch Bob dying. You see all of the things he did throughout the film and then when you see him getting into his car for the final journey to the hospital, you really start to feel a lot of sympathy for the guy. No lie, this was the only movie to ever make me cry. I'll admit it. It really made me sad to see him in his hospital bed struggling for air and stuff. Not to mention the beautiful final sequence which shows assorted home movies with a voiceover of Bob reading a poem he wrote called 'Why?'
So all in all, this movie was excellent. Extremely moving, yet very funny and compelling to watch at the same time. A must see.
Bob Flanagan was an interesting person, whom I only wish I could have had the pleasure to meet before he died (hey, I was only around 7 years old when he died.) He was a poet, artist, performance artist, counselor at a CF summer camp, and of course, a masochist.
It's sad that people refuse to see this film just because it involves S&M or because they think they couldn't handle it. In all honesty, the scenes of S&M aren't hard to watch at all. It's understandable if you have trouble watching the penis nailing scene (I didn't, by the way), but you can just look away and still come away from the film with the same effect. Those scenes aren't what make this movie so effective.
What made the film so effective was showing how friendly and funny Bob was. He wasn't evil or sadistic. He wasn't the kind of guy who kidnaps children and tortures them. He was an average guy (a very talented one at that) who just happened to have a different way of controlling his disease and pain.
But the thing that made this film so moving was the fact that you basically watch Bob dying. You see all of the things he did throughout the film and then when you see him getting into his car for the final journey to the hospital, you really start to feel a lot of sympathy for the guy. No lie, this was the only movie to ever make me cry. I'll admit it. It really made me sad to see him in his hospital bed struggling for air and stuff. Not to mention the beautiful final sequence which shows assorted home movies with a voiceover of Bob reading a poem he wrote called 'Why?'
So all in all, this movie was excellent. Extremely moving, yet very funny and compelling to watch at the same time. A must see.
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