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 . 
