Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam

Intrepid documentarian Nick Broomfield looks to uncover the real story behind the notorious Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss in this fascinating, repellent film.

Broomfield is, as usual, totally fearless, and uses his oh-so upright British bearing ("I'm doing a piece for the BBC")to mask the fact that he's a complete gutter-crawling slimebag, able to hold court with the sleaziest characters imaginable. At first, Fleiss won't grant Broomfield an interview (she is arrested for violating her probation shortly after he arrives in Los Angeles) so he pursues her friends and associates with tunnel-vision tenaciousness.

All the neon slime is on display here: pimps, hookers, adult film stars, drug dealers, crooked cops, shady figures of all shapes and sizes. Broomfield goes after them all without fear.

The two people he spends the most time with are Madam Alex, a creepy old-world crone from Hungary who controlled the Hollywood flesh trade before Heidi stole it from her, and Ivan Nagy, a smiling, brutish pimp-drug-dealer-movie-director (also Hungarian) and Heidi's ex-boyfriend who also (supposedly) was the one who narc'd on her to the police. The two spend their time on camera telling wild, half-baked stories and making accusations against each other that criss-cross and contradict so often that eventually it becomes clear that they ARE ALL lying to some degree.

Fleiss does finally give Broomfield an interview and she comes off quite well. Intelligent, lively, and a keen observer of human nature, she clearly is no dunce, although its tough to believe she could actually go toe-to-toe with either Nagy or Alex.

In the end, because he's on screen so much and is such a persistent presence, "Hollywood Madam" is more about Broomfield and his relentless desire to get at the truth than anything. At times, one can only marvel at the audacity of this guy: whether badgering known drug-dealers and pimps until they all but plead with him to GO AWAY, or making what amounts to crank calls to an underworld enforcer (and possible ex-Moussad hit man) Broomfield walks through it all with a zeal it is hard not to admire.

Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1995) was another great film from Nick Broomfield. This time he tries to get a one-on-one interview with Heidi Fleiss and documents the life and times of Hollywood's most famous high price madam (pimp). Broomfield interview those who were close to Ms. Fleiss and people who knew her off hand or in passing. But as Mr. Broomfield logs in the miles and rolls of film, Heidi Fleiss is very elusive and hard to reach. One of the most funniest parts of the documentary is the confrontation Nick Broomfield has with a local news reporter. Does he get the interview? Will anyone co-operate with him? Is it worth watching? You'll have to find out for yourself!!

I enjoyed this film very much. It was a real hoot seeing Nick Broomfield trying to get answers out of people who wanted to get paid or those who didn't trust him. A lot of home movies and nude peeks at Heidi Fleiss as well. If you watch this movie you'll a different opinion about the woman either way. No matter if it's the common street walker or a high priced hooker the business is all the same. Seedy, sleazy and shady.

Highly recommended.

Nick Broomfield often pokes his camera in places many would rather he not venture. The liars, and occasionally, people telling the truth, in his films are like those pilots having dogfights in old war movies. Who will shoot down who first?

My summary refers to the entertainment industry that always has and always will have an arm which reaches out for prostitutes' services. In the old days, rich men could buy sex and expect a certain discretion came along with the carnal for hire agreements. Now, any woman who claims she was Eldrick Woods' mistress or a hooker he dallied with is thrust into the spotlight by a tabloid juggernaut that needs constant angles on the latest scandal. Whether or not there is a scintilla of truth doesn't really stop the steamroller from flattening ethics in journalism to a ridiculous non standard of rumour and outright fabrication. Where are you when we need you, Walter Cronkite?

Broomfield interviews many here and most of them have their hand out, wanting money to speak. Heidi comes across as the most likable person you could meet in this sleazy crowd. The ultimate scum is her former boyfriend, Ivan, who delights in proving how he can manipulate her anytime he wants. If anyone should have gone to jail, it really should have been this obnoxious fool.

Prostitution is here to stay. Decriminalizing it and making sure the health of both workers and their clients are sound is much more important than some "crimes" which have been foolishly prosecuted by overzealous DAs and harshly sentenced in the US. The persecution of sex workers of legal age and other felonies, like non violent marijuana offences, are clogging up the courts and jails/prisons. Throw the book at those who force underage boys and girls into selling themselves and those who commit rape on the internet. Let the Heidis of the world peddle sex and their customers buy it. And pay taxes too!

Broomfield takes a look at Hollywood decadence, not just the world of porn here. This documentary should be viewed by anyone who still has naive notions about Tinseltown i.e. what really goes on behind the scenes.

Heidi Fleiss is interesting, I suppose, with her boundless naivety (while fancying herself a sly vixen) and greed, but it's really her Hungarian pimp/porn-master/sex-partner and other lesser-known seedy individuals (like the fat old madam who hates both the Hungarian and Fleiss) who catch one's full attention here. These people make Ron Jeremy look utterly dull by comparison (yes, he's in this, too - no surprise there). Even a forgotten Peter Sellers daughter makes one or two appearances, letting us see what happens to some of the offspring that aren't as lucky as David Arquette or Anjelina Jolie. The mad relationships between various inidviduals here almost make for a sort of soap-opera: there is treason, bickering, back-stabbing and all that other stuff. Wonderful.

It's just a pity that the movie was made before Fleiss hooked up with Tom Sizemore. Having him scream into the camera would have been fun.

Not a minute of this film is dull.

I've never "loved" anything that Nick Broomfield has done, but I certainly love him as a documentarian. He has a unique, and very obtrusive style of filmmaking that forces the viewer to follow his line of thinking. This, as one might surmise has advantages and disadvantages, and indeed the flaws in this otherwise fascinating documentary are mostly from his style.

On the other hand, it's a fitting style to use as he does his investigative reporting trying to get the inside scoop on the whole Heidi Fleiss affair, and just what exactly was going on between the cast of characters involved.

I haven't seen such a collection of manipulative, shady characters in one place in a very long time. It's particularly fun watching a former Madam and a former (or are they still together?) lover of Fleiss exchange insults and spin intricate lies about each other and their roles in her life.

Part of what allows this to come out is Broomfield's follow-up style. He interviews one person, then another, then often goes back to a previous interviewee to get their reaction to what someone else said. It's an inevitable, but still ingenious structure that helps to involve the viewer.

At the same time, there does come a point when all this lying becomes tiresome. But just when you think you've had enough, Broomfield finally scores an interview with Fleiss herself, which rather than clearing things up, only adds to the confusion. It's a wonderful scene, and true to form, things don't end there, as Broomfield once again returns to certain people to try and put the pieces together.

OVERALL SCORE: B