26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a true story, August 7, 2001
This excellent 1992 British documentary by Nick Broomfield about "America's first female serial killer" poses more questions than it answers which is indicative of the quagmire of duplicity that surrounded the case. Aileen was a prostitute convicted of the shooting murder of 7 men in central Florida between 1989 and 1990 and sentenced to death by electric chair. She is a tragic figure since she appeared to be surrounded by people who wanted to see her die and profit from their association with her. Her lesbian lover helped her be arrested, her adopted stepmother convinced her to plead guilty, her lawyer more excited about his rock career, the police more interested in the movie rights, state politicians who needed her dead to be re-elected. When we finally get to meet Aileen in prison we see what an intelligent and open person she appears to be, which deepens the tragedy, though we never learn her fate. Broomfield spends a lot of time on camera with Aileen's stepmother and lawyer, filming their negotiated contracts, and travelling the area trying to unravel the story, though ultimately failing. Aileen claims that the killings were all acts of self-defense, an opinion we tend to believe when we hear her horrific evidence in a filmed trial. The most fascinating person is the one we never meet - the vanished ex-lover whom Aileen is willing to die to protect and who seems to hold the key to the truth.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Does what a documentary does, June 7, 2004
This review is from: Aileen Wuornos - The Selling of a Serial Killer (DVD)
Well documents the sad and absurd people and circumstances in Aileen Wuornos' new life as a serial killer in 1992. Best if seen with the 2002 interviews "Aileen - Life and Death of a Serial Killer" in order to appreciate how bizarre it all gets over time. Actually, it is essential to see them together.
Very objective in trying to find the truth in Aileen's unfolding and complex insanity.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An opportunity for interested parties to make money, September 11, 2004
This review is from: Aileen Wuornos - The Selling of a Serial Killer (DVD)
This is a startling documentary that offers riveting insight into the way the legal system can abandon the disenfranchised and the poor. The movie also stands as a good companion piece to the Charlize Theron's Monster. While current Oscar Queen Charlize did a terrific job of portraying the homely, luckless lesbian hooker, this film ultimately gives a much more accurate insight into the real Aileen Wuornos. In Monster, Theron portrayed Wuornos as a kind of stupid, helpless victim who was addled by drugs and alcohol - which in some respects she was, but in this documentary she comes across as quite articulate, intelligent, and totally aware of what's going on around her. Aileen is very alert to the fact that certain individuals are trying to make money out of her story, and she's very conscious of the fact that the legal system and society as a whole is eventually intent on casting her aside.
Between 1989 and 1990, Aileen Wuornos haunted the interstates of jerkwater Florida, and committed seven murders. All of the victims were middle-aged, white males, who had tried to pick her up, and according to her, abused and raped her. Directed by Nick Bloomfield, this 1992 BBC-funded documentary focuses more on the ensuing media frenzy than the actual killings and their aftermaths. Wuornos is now on death row and is being steadily convicted of all seven murders. Broomfield interviews Arlene Pralle, who has adopted Wuornos as her spiritual "daughter." Arlene is a horse breeding Christian fundamentalist who prattles on about the glory of God and feels the need to rescue and save this poor woman from her predicament.
Also interviewed is Steve Glazer, Wuornos' generously proportioned, hippie public defender, who offers second-rate legal service, and is more interested in promoting his music than truly representing Eileen. Both Pralle and Glazer come across as conniving and duplicitous, and after promising Broomfield that he can have an interview with Wuornos and see all her personal effects for a mere $25,000, it rapidly becomes clear that they are ultimately out to make money from Wuornos while she lies rotting in jail.
Broomfield's also uncovers a bit of media scheming by the county police departments' to sell the rights to the story, which eventually results in a lieutenant's resignation. And there's also the revelation that Wuornos' original court assigned public defender didn't bother to present the evidence that Wuornos' first victim had been previously convicted of rape. Wuornos comes across as paranoid, bitter, and resentful about a system that has let her down. Everybody was against her, her one true love had abandoned her and turned her in, and no one would listen to her when she claimed to have committed the crimes in self-defense. This is a chilling and sad story, but it's a story that certainly needs to be told. Mike Leonard September 04.
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