Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer

The documentary `Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer' provides an interesting companion piece to `Monster,' the film that earned Charlize Theron the Academy Award for Best Actress of 2003. This is actually the second documentary British filmmaker Nick Broomfield has made about Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who was executed in Florida in 2002 for the murders of seven of her johns during the late 1980's. His first film on the subject was made in 1992 during Aileen's initial trial. Now, ten years later, he is back recording Aileen's final days, trying to get her to reveal the unvarnished truth about what really happened all those years ago.

Broomfield does not pretend to be totally fair and unbiased in his presentation of the case. He is clearly sympathetic to Aileen and is not shy about voicing his own opposition to the death penalty. Nevertheless, the film he has made offers a meaningful glimpse into the mind of a killer, as well as the role that the legal system and the media play in sensational murder cases. Broomfield spends much of his time visiting Aileen's childhood home, interviewing people close to her, chronicling the events of the trial, and documenting Aileen's time in prison. But the most compelling scenes are those in which he interviews Aileen herself, prodding her to open up and reveal whether she committed the murders out of self-defense as she claims or whether she killed her victims to steal their money as the prosecution successfully argued. The main bone of contention between filmmaker and subject centers around the first killing. Through footage taken at her trial, Broomfield shows how, on the witness stand, Aileen wove a compelling and convincing tale of how that first murder came about. According to Aileen, her first victim was attacking and raping her, causing her to reach into her purse, grab her pistol and shoot him dead. Indeed, this is the way in which `Monster' portrays the scene as occurring. Yet, in 2002, Broomfield captures a much different account, as Aileen confesses point blank to the camera that the story was a bald-faced lie she came up with to engender sympathy for herself with the jury (it clearly didn't work). Later in the film, however, Aileen reverses the story again and implies that the first killing was indeed an act of self-defense.

`Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer' is a depressing and disturbing film on a number of levels. First, it places us face-to-face with the incomprehensible mindset of a cold-blooded murderer. Aileen comes across at times as warm and rational, honest about her guilt and repentant for the pain she's caused. At other times, she explodes in anger at friend and foe alike, cusses a blue streak, calls vile curses down on those she feels have wronged her, and blames everyone but herself for the fate that has befallen her. Second, the film makes us question whether one can ever really know if a person is telling the truth, even under oath. Third, it makes us wonder just how many people there are out there whose messed-up lives and upbringings can lead to this type of dangerous antisocial behavior. Fourth, Aileen's clear and intense paranoia even up to the day of her execution – she was convinced that the police knew all about her killings long before they brought her in and let her go on killing so that they could get rich off her story - clearly raises questions as to just how `sane' she really was when the state of Florida sent her to her death. Though, by the end, Broomfield is generally convinced that Aileen was a pathological liar and most likely guilty of first degree murder, he does not let all the other parties in the case off the hook that easily. He is quick to point out the shoddy defense she received in her original trial, as well as the way in which many of her closest friends and even some Florida law enforcement officials made money off her by selling her story to various media outlets. This film offers a stinging indictment of all the parties involved in this case.

One could wish for a little less personal involvement on the part of the filmmaker. Too often we feel that he has sacrificed his objectivity, that he isn't providing us with all the angles on the story we need to render a fair and reasonable judgment. For instance, he spends virtually no time interviewing the loved ones of the men Aileen slaughtered. Still, if you've seen `Monster,' `Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer' will provide further insight into that film's dark subject. It will also show you just how extraordinary a job Theron did in capturing the real woman at the story's core.

Nick Bloomfield is a filmmaker that goes out to find the truth or try at least. From Kurt and Courtney to Tupac and Biggie he always opts for the most controversial story he can get his hands on and he always rubs people up the wrong way without trying so hard like Michael Moore does in Bowling for Columbine.

Aileen was mad. She went through so much abuse in the years she was alive it probably became a natural thing to happen to her. She knew the wrong people, she had the wrong job and she never had the chance to get her say. She talked and talked a lot about what really happened and I think at the end of it all she didn't care about living as she had spent a good decade behind bars. The interviews that Nick has with Aileen are highly documented and explain a lot of her personality and who she really is but a lot of the time it was questionable about her insanity. Through the public eye she was a monster that deserved what was coming where other people looked at her in a different light and took pity because of her abusive up bringing. The movie Monster was a stunning portrayal of who Aileen really was and how down and out she was even before trying to get back up. She was whisked through so many relationships and whether or not they were abusive relationships they always left her scared and feeling unwanted. I got the impression that sometimes when she was prostituting herself she was looking for one man or woman to come along and take her away from all the hurt and pain she must have been feeling. For Jeb Bush to let the execution of Aileen go ahead was an absolute outage as far as justice goes because though she may have wanted it from time to time legally she shouldn't have been executed. She had so many past happening going through her head she didn't know the right from wrong and because of constant abuse of male figures in her life since she was a little girl you couldn't really say that she wasn't mixed up and was fully sane to be executed.

Nick bonds with Aileen a lot through the documentary and a lot of the time Aileen does go back and what she says which just puts you in place where you don't know what to believe but this is such a fascinating story and is a subject that isn't brought up enough in this day and age because things that happened to Aileen are happening right now to one woman or even a man in nearly every country. Physical Abuse is a subject that people don't like to discuss in general because of the horror that follows it but if it was an issue like it should have been with Aileen then I think many people could be saved and to understand there story you have to listen to what they have to say which is what nobody did when coming to Aileen. Bloomfield again creates something which gives you food for thought and as much as he wants to find the truth again he doesn't, only a number of conspiracy theories which I always find appealing because it leaves you thinking more about the truth.

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

to see films like this. When the media dehumanizes a person for profit, and thanks to Nick Broomfield, we see the other side. A 13 year old girl raped and impregnated by her grandfather, who slept in the freezing Michigan forest when her family kicked her out of their house.

Shame on Diane, Aileen's mother, who sits and states that Aileen loved living as a homeless person. The denial in this abusive family is rampant. I was actually angry and upset by this film.

Actions have consequences. Abuse starts at home, and this entire situation escalated to the point it did because an abused woman finally lost her grip on life, she had no help, no means of support, and the state of Florida was only too pleased to step in and garner media attention during an election year.

Capital punishment does not provide a deterrent (this is a scientific fact) but it does prove man's inhumanity. Thank you Mr. Broomfield for this upsetting documentary. 10/10.

"Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)" is a documentary about the life of the notorious Florida serial killer, Aileen Wornous, who inspired the much lauded film "Monster". Not to be confused with "Aileen Wornous: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)", also by Nick Broomfield, this film provides background on Wornous who was selling sex for cigarettes as a 9 year old child in Michigan and follows her life from criminal trials to death row up to her execution (which was not shown). The film paints a portrait of a troubled woman who descends into paranoid schizophrenia as the end nears all the while maintaining the unexpectedly undaunted, matter-of-fact demeanor of one very much reconciled to her fate in spite of being trapped in a system with no recompense for abuse in childhood nor insanity in adulthood who well may have been failed by the criminal justice system as well. A worthwhile watch for those interested in the Wornous story, especially as a follow-up to "Monster". (B)