Aileen: Vida e Morte de Uma Serial Killer

Nick Broomfield's second Aileen Wuernos doco (with Joan Churchill) does not walk the same hallways as the first, but it explores how the first, "The Selling of a Serial Killer", impacted the serial killer's mostly miserable life.

Wuernos's claim that the police department left her alone to kill so that they could ultimately sell the story rights to Hollywood is given a lot of play here. Broomfield doesn't take it up any further with the cops themselves (he did some of that in the original doc), but he does include fascinating footage of his own experience as a documentary "witness" to the dope smoking of "Dr. Legal", Aileen's first lawyer.

Aileen's final speech, almost directly to camera, is powerful and raw, much like the rest of this doco.

Some material feels whipped to death, but the revelations about the killer's childhood (at thirteen, after giving birth, she lived in the woods behind her house during a snowy winter) certainly help us to understand her better.

Worth seeing, but I feel that it would work better on the small screen.

Hitch-hiker and prostitute, Aileen Wuronos, was convincted for committing the murders of seven men between 1989-1990, and executed for her crimes in 2002. The documentary 'Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial' killer is the second of Broomfield's documentaries about Aileen (the first was released in 1992) and explores her story including her childhood, her experiences as an adult living on the streets and selling her body, and attempts to piece together her truth about her crimes.

As other reviewers have pointed out, Broomfield doesn't attempt to hide his biases throughout the documentary, so if you're looking for an unbiased telling of Aileen's crimes, you won't find that here. Broomfield is clearly sympathetic towards Aileen and the two seem to strike up a friendship of sorts from their many interactions, which perhaps inhibits his ability to be objective. However, it doesn't diminish the impact of the documentary and in journalism there's no such thing as true objectivity anyway. I personally respect Broomfield for making his own opinions clear without forcing them upon the viewers.

It's no surprise that as an English man Broomfield is opposed to the death penalty (being English myself, I don't know anybody here that's NOT opposed to it), and that clearly plays a part in his sympathies towards Aileen. He doesn't even have to make a convincing argument against the legal justice system (particularly surrounding the death penalty), because as a viewer I can clearly see how corrupt and inadequate it was in this case. Aileen DID NOT receive fair representation and although her mental state amplified her delusions in her final days, she wasn't completely wrong in her accusations against law enforcement who were making money off her story. There have been endless movies, books and documentaries produced about Aileen's crimes and even those that were closest to her (her girlfriend, family and friends) were more concerned with profiting off her case than her well-being.

Although Broomfield doesn't delve too deeply into the issues facing the American legal system and the death penalty, those questions are clearly echoing throughout. Broomfield asks if it's moral or just to send a mentally ill person to death, and it's a fair question. As the documentary progresses, Aileen's mental state deteriorates and in her final interview with Broomfield she's clearly suffering from mental illness which she claims she did not receive adequate medical treatment for. Essentially, Broomfield forces the viewers to ask themselves whether what happens to Aileen is fair. She has been found guilty of her crimes and has confessed to those crimes, but she is still a human being who has fundamental human rights and whom the American legal justice system has basic responsibilities for - e.g. providing fair representation and medical care - two things we know Aileen did not receive. It's impossible to ignore these injustices in the 'justice' system and to question how much the system aligns up to what it claims to be.

In addition to posing questions about the American legal system, the documentary also provides insight into the criminal mind, and shows that serial killers are not always what we expect them to be. They're not always psychopathic, intelligent, sadistic monsters who get a thrill from hurting and killing others, such as Ted Bundy. In Aileen's case an argument can adequately made for the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate. Her horrific experiences from a young age (being abandoned by her birth mother, being sexually abused, being impregnated by a local paedophile at 14 and being forced to give the child up, being made homeless at age 14 and living in the woods at the end of her street and her endless experiences of violent/sexual abuse from being a prostitute) deeply impacted her and twisted her mindset. She felt she had suffered at the hands of the world and that her suffering entitled her to inflict that suffering upon others and take what she felt she deserved and had always been robbed of - money and security.

Although Broomfield spends time interviewing the friends and family of Aileen to uncover more about her childhood, the interviews he conducts with Aileen herself are by far the highlight of the documentary. It's in those moments that Broomfield is face-to-face with Aileen that we truly get to see how unstable she is - jumping from a seemingly ordinary, reasonable and polite person to erratic, angry, paranoid and rude. The possiblity that Aileen suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder is referenced once, but generally, her mental state is completely neglected which is shocking to me since throughout filming she was clearly suffering from severe mental illness.

Regardless of Aileen's mental state, what happened to her throughout her life or what led her to commit her crimes, the fact remains that she took the lives of seven men and that is a point that Broomfield continues to emphasise throughout. He continually prods Aileen as to whether she acted in self-defence or committed cold-blooded murder and each time Aileen's response is different. In fact, her story changes so often that it's impossible to know the truth and by the end of the documentary it's safe to label Aileen a pathological liar.

Overall, 'Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer' is an intriguing insight into Aileen Wuronos' life and crimes. It gives Aileen herself a voice, allowing her to tell her 'truth' and counteract the claims or words of others - the media and those closest to her - that have crafted their own tales about her. Ultimately, it's a tragic story of a murderer, who although many would agree deserved to die, did not receive a fair trial and was transformed into a money-making machine for many of the law enforcement officers connected to her case and even her own loved ones.

Like the great Rolling Stones song in my title, this sobering film forces us to question what is evil, and what is humankind's role in creating it?

Like many of you, I'm assuming, I became interested in the story of Aileen Wurnos after seeing the powerful film "Monster" with Charlize Theron (who, by the way, did an EXCELLENT job in that film. After you see this, you'll agree she totally nailed the part of the real Aileen we see here).

From the opening lines, we realize that the director Nick Broomfield is biased in favour of Aileen, so if that's hard for you to swallow you might want to skip this documentary. But whether or not you think Aileen deserved to be executed, this is a great doc because it asks questions that we all should consider about the legal system, society's callousness and ultimately the death penalty.

From the Rolling Stones song: "I shouted out, who killed the Kennedys? When after all, It was you and me."

Similarly, this film asks the question, who killed the 7 victims? The answer, Nick Bloomfield implies, is "you and me" (human society). There is no Devil, and Aileen Wurnos isn't some supernatural spawn of Satan. She was a mentally damaged person who slipped through the cracks of society and in turn destroyed a lot of lives. Society, or rather the justice system, labeled her an abomination and exacted its revenge, washed its hands of her, and all the while made a pretty profit.

What's masterful about this documentary is, even though it is very sympathetic toward Aileen in her plight, it never attempts to excuse her for her crimes. In fact it shows some very chilling outbursts of hers where we realize exactly how explosive & mentally damaged she was. This is truly a documentary for people who can process the truth in conflicting packets, not for people who see things as black & white.

Other great films/documentaries that tackle controversial topics and force us to see the complexities beneath them include: "You Don't Know Jack" (2010) about Dr. Jack Kevorkian's suicide machine, "A Short Film About Killing" (1988) which is part of Kieslowsky's powerful "Decalogue" series, and an excellent doc called "The Bridge" (2006) that shows real footage of several troubled souls leaping to their deaths off the Golden Gate Bridge and analyzes what made them do it.

Almost a decade after he made his original documentary around the trial of Aileen Wuornos, Nick Broomfield is surprised to open his door one morning and be served with a subpoena to attend what would turn out to be Wuornos final appeal. After being heavily criticised for editing his film to give false impressions, Broomfield's involvement is finished when Wuornos gives up on her appeal and volunteers for the death sentence. Broomfield continues his documentary, looking back at the original trial and getting several interviews with Aileen before her death.

I have not seen the film Monster but I may rent it out after seeing this film as it has raised my interest and given me more factual background to the story than I imagine a Hollywood film would give me. I'm not a massive fan of Broomfield and I was amused to see him being slightly hauled over the coals in court over his editing (the implication being that he made it look like Aileen's lawyer had smoked several spliffs before coming to advise her). However, despite opening himself to this criticism, Broomfield starts looking at the case and digs up some interesting fans, but the real value of the film is the interviews with Wuornos herself. While the film has plenty of little legal points about whether or not she was well advised and about how the media seemed to vilify her more than other similar male killers, it is almost impossible to agree with the penalty when you hear Wuornos talking.

Throughout the film her story changes and I was confused as to what the truth was as she seemed to be lying with every other word. We are then given background of abuse and tough living conditions and suggestions that she is the creation of her harsh and unpleasant background. Despite some interviews (particularly with her mother) that cast doubt on her life, the overwhelming impression of her youth is one of suffering, hardship and cruelty. On top of this, Wuornos herself is increasingly erratic and is clearly not in her right mind – reason enough for locking her away for life rather than killing her. She appears to be suffering from some form of split personality – one moment talking calmly to Nick, the next swearing non-stop at the courts to let her die. The idea that Bush's competency hearing lasting 15 minutes just makes matters worse.

Broomfield is clearly a liberal and is very against the death penalty (his comment 'it has been proven that the death penalty is no deterrent' is just lazy) and this does give the film a real slant in Aileen's favour. Despite this the film is still chilling – it is not totally clear what is true and what isn't but there are two things that are very clear. Firstly, there is no doubt that Aileen killed those men and that (in my opinion) self-defence is no defence for all of them. Secondly, Aileen is not in her right mind and should not have been killed but should have been jailed for life. It is chilling that so much is stacked in her favour and that Wuornos is only one of many people involved who want to flick the switch.

Overall, this is not an easy watch and even the Bush brothers would maybe have doubts over her death penalty. Her last interview descends into total paranoia and instability and is horrible to watch – I was left in no doubt that she deserved jail but in no way did this woman deserve to be killed. It is a well made film despite some bias from Nick and the end result is a chilling film that really made me worry about the systems in some states in the US that seem to treat the death penalty with such ease – like Nick says in reference to the physiological competency test, 'it makes you wonder what you have to do to fail'. After this film Broomfield was interviewed in The Times and said 'When I moved to the US in the 1970's, I had a real belief that it was the land of the free. For me this film marked the end of that belief' – it is to the film's credit that many viewers will be shaken in the same way.

This is a documentary dealing with the appeal of Aileen Wuornos murder convictions . Don't worry I have no idea who she was either and it's only when I'm told that Charlize Theron played her in MONSTER that I discovered who she was . Try asking someone who Aileen Wuornos was and they'll give a similar blank response , and it's only with the words " Charlize Theron - Monster " that their memory will be jogged . Somewhat sad that an acting performance is better known than a series of real life crimes

Nick Broomfield's documentary is black comedy of the highest order , he's worth a myriad of Michael Moores' and lets the facts speak for themselves . Wuornos employed " Dr Legal " at her original trial , a man , or rather spaced out hippy , with no legal experience and no office who attended court after smoking as many as seven joints . I can respect Dr Legal as a toker but how on Earth was someone like that able to defend someone on multiple murder charges ? We're later shown someone claiming being gay is a very modern invention :

" Where were the gays years ago ? "

" In the closet ? "

" No there weren't any gays years ago , they didn't exist back then . Were there any gays when you were at school ? "

" I went to a British public school . We invented it along with the Greeks "

Broomfield is very much anti death penalty and he's also very much against the cheque book circus that surrounded the case , but perhaps the beauty of this documentary is that despite being biased Broomfield doesn't feel the need to twist facts into lies or treat the audience as retarded schoolchildren , if you agree with the death penalty this documentary won't change your mind but does raise serious questions about the American legal system