IMDb - 6.8/10 (160 votes)
Bob Flanagan - Pain Journal
Bob's obituary
“To fight sickness with sickness.”
Film Threat interviews Kirby
Why
by Bob Flanagan
Because it feels good; because it gives me an erection; because it makes me come; because I'm sick; because there was so much sickness; because I say FUCK THE SICKNESS; because I like the attention; because I was alone alot; because I was different; because kids beat me up on the way to school; because I was humiliated by nuns; because of Christ and the crucifixion; because of Porky Pig in bondage, force-fed by some sinister creep in a black cape; because of stories of children hung by their wrists, burned on the stove, scalded in tubs; because of "Mutiny on the Bounty"; because of cowboys and indians; because of Houdini; because of my cousin Cliff; because of the forts we built and the things we did inside them; because of my genes; because of my parents; because of doctors and nurses; because they tied me to the crib so I wouldn't hurt myself; because I had time to think; because I had time to hold my penis; because I had awful stomach aches and holding my penis made it feel better; because I'm a Catholic; because I still love Lent, and I still love my penis, and in spite of it all I have no guilt; because my parents said BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE, and this is what I want to be; because I'm nothing but a big baby and I want to stay that way, and I want a mommy forever, even a mean one, especially a mean one; because of all the fairy tale witches and the wicked step mother, and the step sisters, and how sexy Cinderella was, smudged with soot, doomed to a life of servitude; because of Hansel, locked in a witch's cage until he was fat enough to eat; because of "O" and how desperately I wanted to be her; because of my dreams; because of the games we played; because I have an active imagination; because my mother bought me tinker toys; because hardware stores give me hardons; because of hammers, nails, clothespins, wood, padlocks, pullies, eyebolts, thumbtacks, staple-guns, sewing needles, wooden spoons, fishing tackle, chains, metal rulers, rubber tubing, spatulas, rope, twine, C-clamps, S-hooks, razor blades, scissors, tweezers, knives, push pins, two-by-fours, ping-pong tables, alligator clips, duct tape, broom sticks, bar-b-que skewers, bungie cords, saw horses, soldering irons; because of tool sheds; because of garages; because of basements; because of dungeons; because of The Pit and The Pendulum; because of the Inquisition; because of the rack; because of the cross; because of the Addams Family playroom; because of Morticia Addams and her black dress with its octopus legs; because of motherhood; because of Amazons; because of the Goddess; because of the moon; because it's in my nature; because it's against nature; because it's nasty; because it's fun; because it flies in the face of all that's normal (whatever that is); because I'm not normal; because I used to think that I was part of some vast experiment and that there was this implant in my penis that made me do these things and allowed THEM (whoever THEY were) to monitor my activities; because I had to take my clothes off and lie inside this giant plastic bag so the doctors could collect my sweat; because once upon a time I had such a high fever my parents had to strip me naked and wrap me in sheets to stop the convulsions; because my parents loved me even more when I was suffering; because I was born into a world of suffering; because surrender is sweet; because I'm attracted to it; because I'm addicted to it; because endorphins in the brain are like a natural kind of heroin; because I learned to take my medicine; because I was a big boy for taking it; because I can take it like a man; because, as someone once said, HE'S GOT MORE BALLS THAN I DO, because it is an act of courage; because it does take guts; because I'm proud of it; because I can't climb mountains; because I'm terrible at sports; because NO PAIN, NO GAIN; because SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD; BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE.
"All the articles about me start that way: 'Bob Flanagan should be dead, but he isn't.'" - Bob Flanagan
Well, he should have been. Really. You see, Bob Flanagan was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as an infant in the 1950s; C.F. is an incurable disease that mercilessly fills the lungs with thick mucus, making breathing not only painful, but near impossible at times, and as a rule, life expectancy for someone with the disease is generally around 25. The fact that Flanagan lived to age 43, in and of itself, is nothing short of unbelievable. But it is the way he lived his life that is even more unbelievable. Bob Flanagan was not just a poet, musician, performance artist, writer -- he was a devout masochist. Pain, S&M, and self-abuse were key to his survival, it seems.
Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist is the oddly heartfelt and often difficult to watch 1997 documentary from Kirby Dick that chronicles the bizarre life that Flanagan led, and how his decidedly unconventional lifestyle may have actually began as his own dramatic attempt to fight back at his own failing body, and which ultimately developed into something that merged S&M, performance art, and good old-fashioned love (well, ok, maybe not "good old-fashioned", but some kind of love, nonetheless). It is Flanagan's submissive/masochistic long-term relationship with the dominant/sadist Sheree Rose that forms the core of Sick, and the pair allow Kirby Dick to string together narration-free home video, performance clips and video diaries, along with new interview footage to paint the graphically unflinching story of two people who clearly and desperately are made for one another, and the painful and personal lengths to which they go for not just their doomed-by-illness love, but their art.
The persistent, body-rattling phlegmatic coughs and the ever-present oxygen tank are offset by Bob Flanagan's obvious wry and sarcastic artist's outlook on life, and the things that would have defeated others is used by him as ammunition to create shocking performance installations, such as the video crucifix and his version of the visible man, which spews mock bile, semen and feces. His desire, whether sexually or artistically, for abusing his own body, either at his hands or the hands of the coldly impersonal Sheree Rose, is displayed completely uncensored here, and about the only moment that we don't see in great detail is when he has a rather large ball inserted into an orifice that normally isn't designed to handle such intrusions. Be warned that Sick is extremely graphic in nature, and there were more than a few instances where I found myself watching through squinted eyes as his body received an assortment of piercings, cuts, bruises and welts.
The segments of masochistic pain are intercut with opportunities to see Bob Flanagan working as a C.F. counselor singing funny songs, performing in a Nine Inch Nails video, and even serving as a form of divine inspiration for Sarah, a 17-year-old Canadian girl also afflicted with C.F. The meeting of Flanagan and Sarah is completely touching and strange in its own right, and is one of Sick's most genuinely human moments that is eventually poisoned by Sheree Rose's myopic, self-centered viewpoint on life.
- The movie, with dual audio, english and director's commentary:
Sick - The life and death of Bob Flanagan Supermasochist - Dual En + Commentary.ogm 
- english & spanish subtitles:
Sick - The life and death of Bob Flanagan Supermasochist - En+Esp Subs.rar - Extras:
1- Short movie Sarah's sick too (15 min):
Sick - Bob Flanagan - Sarah's sick too.ogm
2- Deleted scenes (25 min):D.Kirby: We also sent a camera to Sarah Doucette, the Make-A-Wish girl in the film who visited Bob in the film.She shot some very intense footage about her illness, her new husband, what her family thought about Bob, the film and her SM practices.
Sick - Bob Flanagan - Deleted Scenes.ogm
3- Live performances (15 min):There are eight Deleted Scenes, running approximately 26 minutes, all featuring a Kirby Dick intro. Some of the sequences were cut because they simply didn't match the tone of the rest of the film, while some, like the alternate opening, are excruciatingly painful to watch. The best of the bunch is the Toy Box scene, which features Bob and a crucifix that is laugh-out-loud hilarious (unless you are easily offended, but if you were I doubt you would have sat through Sick, let alone these extras).
Sick - Bob Flanagan - Live Performances.ogm
Specs:Live Performances, as you might have suspected, collects four performance pieces by Bob, all with explanatory intros from Kirby Dick. The four segments are:
Body (03m:49s) uses a close-up of Bob's mouth as he delivers one his well-written monologues.
In My Tomb (01m:57s) showcases an weirdly dark variation on The Beach Boys' In My Room.
Rear Window (04m:20s) is Bob's stab at Hitchcock as we observe him giving himself a wine enema. It's a tough watch, if the truth be known.
Poster Child (03m:50s) is another funny monologue, here covering his stint as C.F. poster boy when he was a teenager.
Código: Seleccionar todo
Runtime: 01:29:35
Video format: NTSC
FPS: 23.976
Size: 500 x 378
Video bitrate (kbps): ~850
Video codec: ffmpeg
AF6 codec: mpeg4
2-pass-encoded: yes
Fast resizing: no
Deinterlacer filter: Inverse telecine
Audio codec: vorbis
Channels: 2
Sample rate: 48000
Audio bitrate (kbps): 128
[Programs]
dvd::rip version: 0.50.15
transcode version: 0.6.9
Enjoy!
