sick :
the life and death of bob flanagan , supermasochist by fernando vallejo starring bob flanagan and sheree rose .
interviews by kathe burkhart , kirby dick and rita valencia . produced and directed by kirby dick .
running time : 90 mins .
this film is not rated .
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 .
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 .
the movie is about much more than recouperating ( or attempting to ) from this disease .
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 .
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 .
both crumb and flanagan revelled in their defects .
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 .
behold these works of physical art .
among them is a metal ball inserted inside his anus , and , --the most disturbing scene of the decade-- , nailing his penis to a board .
flanagan was a man of great intelligence , wit and humor , as well as adopting a sense of candidness scarcely seen in modern filmmaking .
not only did he approach his disease with humor , peforming burlesque acts in front of an audience , he was also revitalized by his approachment .
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 . )
but the most outstanding thing about " sick " is flanagan 's relationship with sheree .
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 .
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 .
it goes a step beyond cinematic intimacy .
goes a step beyond cinematic intimacy a rare cinematic high brimming with honesty , sensual stimulation