Sequel

I just found out that there's a new documentary opening that's the sequel to one of my favorite nonfiction films ever, Aileen Wournos: The Selling Of A Serial Killer. It's by the same filmmaker, Nick Broomfield, and chronicles what has happened since he stopped making the first film.

There's some irony in a sequel, since the real person Aileen Wournos was put to death. I plan to see it soon, and I'll let you know what I think.

But the original film is a stunning document at how misguided the legal system can be, and how the cavalier attitude people can have towards human life. Aileen Wournos absolutely committed great crimes, but the people around her, her lawyers, her so-called friends - committed even worse. They pretended to care for a person, only to shepherd her to the death chamber while making money off of interviews they were giving.

Some people won't like Broomfield's bumbling naive reporting, but unlike many of his other films, he doesn't make himself too much of the story in the original Aileen Wournos documentary. This is because he's discovered such sordid and seedy character that they overshadow anybody else on the screen. Eventually, these characters dig their own graves, all the while preparing to dig one for Wournos.

It's better than watching Charlize Theron in make-up putty and a fatsuit!

--opus

posted by opus  at 1:38 PM