Fetishes . Austin Chronicle . 02-16-98

Fetishes

DIRECTED BY: Nick Broomfield

REVIEWED: 02-16-98

Never known for taking the easy way out, British documentary filmmaker Broomfield (Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer) sets his sights on the Manhattan S&M parlor known as Pandora's Box and comes away with mixed results. Broomfield and his cameraman spent two full months at the tony, upper-crust establishment, and though there's hardly anything shocking or revelatory in the film, it does present a complete view of exactly what goes on there and who is affected in what way. True to form, most of the clientele are lawyers, bankers, and Wall Street brokers, powerful men eager to hand the reins over to someone else for a while. Although initially Broomfield was refused entry into the private, behind-closed-doors sessions (wiseass comments, such as asking a house submissive "So, you do the shopping as well?" probably didn't help matters much), before too long he ingratiated himself into the world of bondage and domination.The film presents a unique fly-on-the-wall perspective. Most of the women working as mistresses at Pandora's Box hold more conventional day jobs, and Broomfield grills them as to what goes on in the rest of their lives. "Do you hope to get married and have kids one day?" he asks pouty Mistress Natasha; the answer is yes, though you have to wonder what sort of disciplinarian she's going to make for the tots. The quote that most accurately sums up the age-old question of S&M though, comes from whip-loving Mistress Katherine, who says, "It's just kind of nice to be able to beat someone every once in a while." And when the beatee is the head of one of the most successful financial institutions in New York City... well, the mystique is obvious. Broomfield also targets the clientele, who surprisingly allow themselves to be filmed with few reservations. Granted, most of them are trussed up in black rubber and look like cut-rate Pulp Fiction geeks, but it's still odd that so many of the men consented to appear on-camera. Perhaps it's Broomfield's British charm; whatever it is, it eventually gains him access into the homes and apartments of the various mistresses, where, sadly, nothing much is revealed. Despite the seemingly fish-in-a-barrel aspect of Fetishes, there's not much new to be gleaned from the film. The most exciting, telling, and humorous bits come as the assorted dominatrixes attempt to get the director to undergo one of their sessions. "But I don't like pain!" he cries, backing away again and again, until, finally, they literally chase him up a wall, where he brandishes his boom microphone like a cornered ape. Now, that's entertainment.

2.0 stars

--Marc Savlov

Other Films by Nick Broomfield
Kurt and Courtney

Film Vault Suggested Links
Sex: The Annabel Chong Story
Hellhounds on My Trail
Crumb

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