Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

UPC: 031398834526

Studio: Lions Gate

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Adult Language]

Summary: This documentary profiles poet/performance artist Bob Flanagan, who was born with cystic fibrosis. Flanagan explains, with engaging humor, how his obsession with controlled, self-inflicted pain has helped him to deal with his uncontrollable suffering. His philosophy forces one to look at sado-masochism with fresh eyes. The film includes explicit scenes of genital self-mutilation. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Category: Culture & Society

Awards: Special Recognition – Sundance Film Festival Truer Than Fiction Award – Independent Spirit Awards

Features: ccProduction commentary
Deleted scenes
Sarah's Sick Too
Interview with director
Performance video
Feature score
DVD ROM game
English and Spanish subtitles

Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 09/23/2003

Audio: 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 89 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Supermasochisticbob [5:57]
2. Visible Man [3:27]
3. Moral Cop [4:02]
4. Leather from Home [3:58]
5. Seek Your Pleasure [3:24]
6. Slave & Master [3:21]
7. Pierced & Strangled [4:52]
8. Playing Ball [1:16]
9. Hit Me Harder [2:28]
10. Wall of Pain [4:57]
11. Mr. Derivative [1:54]
12. Art Object [2:54]
13. Spent [3:31]
14. An Early Death [3:56]
15. Bob's Video Diary [5:06]
16. Wish Granter [4:07]
17. By the Balls [4:31]
18. Usurped [3:23]
19. Summer Camp [4:33]
20. Getting Nailed [2:34]
21. Quicksand [6:01]
22. Final Goodbye [3:11]
23. Why [3:33]
24. Credits [2:29]

Michael Hastings

The tongue-in-cheek, sensationalistic title gives little indication of the tender, revelatory moments at the core of Kirby Dick's Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist. Born with cystic fibrosis, Flanagan dedicated his life to stretching, flogging, piercing, burning, and otherwise mutilating his unreliable body, and he invited the art world to watch. Thanks to Flanagan's desire to record his pain, Dick was allowed access to some of the artist's most personal moments with his dominatrix, manager, and partner, Sheree Rose. It would be difficult to make an uninteresting film about these two, but Dick's subjective stance on the project insures that they're never merely used for shock value; the on-camera record of Flanagan's driving a nail through the head of his penis is nothing compared to the grainy footage of the artist's slow, quiet death. Sick shares a place with 1994's Crumb as an unflinching, complex vindication of marginalized art forms and the individuals who pioneer them. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Kirby Dick  Actor 
Kathe Burkhart  Actor 
Rita Valencia  Actor 
Sheree Rose  Actor 
Bob Flanagan  Actor 
Kirby Dick  Director 
Kirby Dick  Producer 

Country: USA