`FETISHES' FAR LESS INTERESTING THAN QUIRKY SUBJECT SUGGESTS.Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic Documentarian doc·u·men·tar·i·an also doc·u·men·ta·rist n. One that makes documentaries or a documentary. Nick Broomfield  This article or section relies largely or entirely upon a .Please help [ improve this article] by introducing appropriate of additional sources. has a fertile attraction to the dark side of human behavior and a rare knack for finding unexpectedly fascinating psychology and relationships behind sensationalistic sen·sa·tion·al·ism n. 1. a. The use of sensational matter or methods, especially in writing, journalism, or politics. b. Sensational subject matter. c. Interest in or the effect of such subject matter. surfaces. Two of his recent features, ``Aileen Wournos: The Selling of a Serial Killer'' and ``Heidi Fleiss Heidi Lynne Fleiss (born December 30 1965), known as the "Hollywood Madam", is a former American madam. She was convicted in connection with her prostitution ring with charges including pandering and tax evasion. Her ring had numerous famous and wealthy clients. : Hollywood Madame'' were less notable for their amused exploitation of sleazy headlines than for the compellingly strange characters and convoluted passions Broomfield uncovered in his comic but probing way. You'd expect ``Fetishes,'' the British director's exploration of a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of S&M parlor, to continue that tradition. But the characters who pay to be spanked, wrestle or play out strange scenarios, and the women who accommodate them for a living, prove a lot less interesting than their quirks would initially indicate. Broomfield hung out at Pandora's Box in Manhattan for a couple of months and got a surprising number of the (mostly, but not all, male) customers to let him film them in degrading fantasy situations. Some gave psychologically simplistic sim·plism n. The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications. [French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple explanations of where their preferences sprang from, but they rarely say anything really intriguing or enlightening - except for the modest guy with his head in a toilet who's abnormally obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with his own potential for violence. The dominant women who work at Pandora's Box are exposed to an even lesser extent. Broomfield visits a few of them at home, learns that one has a pet iguana iguana (ĭgwä`nə), name for several large lizards of the family Iguanidae, found in tropical America and the Galapagos. The common iguana (Iguana iguana and credits her expertise to a fundamentalist upbringing, but does not really get any of them to lower their masks. What the women seem to be most interested in is tying up the thoroughly reluctant documentarian. If you've never had an inkling that stuff like this goes on, ``Fetishes'' may shock you. If laughing at others' sexual obsessions does it for you, the film could well provide ample jollies. But most folks who don't share any of the fetishes Broomfield captures on film will probably just get bored pretty quick. THE FACTS The film: ``Fetishes'' (R; nudity, language). Behind the scenes: Directed by Nick Broomfield. Produced by Broomfield and Michelle D'Acosta. Released by In Pictures. Running time: One hour, 27 minutes. Playing: Sunset 5, West Hollywood. Our rating: Two Stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: British director Nick Broomfield explores life in a New York S&M parlor in the documentary ``Fetishes.'' |
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