This shrewd, cleverly structured documentary raises more questions than it answers, but it's unquestionably a tour de force. In search of the truth behind the scandals surrounding convicted madam Heidi Fleiss, British filmmaker Nick Broomfield explores darkest
Hollywood with wallet and camera, encountering a piquant succession of lowlifes, lunatics and professional sleazeballs. In the end, Broomfield doesn't find the Big Whatzit, but he uncovers a tangle of lies and corruption that would put James Ellroy to shame. Simultaneously, he advances a critique
of documentary film itself, slyly challenging its shopworn pretensions to "realism" and "truth."
Released:
1996
Rated:
NR
Length:
107 mins