Review of Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) by David C — 11 Oct 2013

Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer - Nick Broomfield (UK, 2003).

Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer is the almost accidental sequel to Broomfield's earlier success, 1992's Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer. After the latter is used as evidence at Aileen Wuornos's trial in 2002 Broomfield again picked up the camera and charted what was to become the final 18 months of Wuornos's life before her death by execution in Florida. Aileen Wuornos was America's first known female serial killer and made a household name by the 2003 film Monster in which she is portrayed brilliantly by Charlize Theron.

As in his 1992 film Broomfield's focus is not on the merits of the death penalty (although it is clear he is against it) or on the merits of Aileen's innocence or guilt but instead his focus remains on what he sees as gross miscarriage of justice. In Broomfield's eyes Aileen remains guilty, that much is clear given her confession but that under no definition can anyone claim she was given a fair trial. Where the 1992 film focused on how the police and Wuornos's own legal team attempted to sell the story to Hollywood this time around Nick's interest appears to be somewhat more personal. Here his focus is how the a completely unconventional upbringing and a limited social development along with a complete lack of trustworthy legal counsel or even close friends have contributed and exacerbated an existing mental illness. From here he poses the question, how could a nation or a society comfortably put to death someone who is clearly, in his words "mad".

Interestingly Nick parks his Les Nouvelles Egotistes style for the majority of the film's running time. As opposed to constantly challenging the people in his interviews or attempting to lead the viewer through his narration, Nick largely leaves the interviewees and the scenes to be play out, a marked return to his cinema variete roots. In doing so however Nick brings added gravitas to the scenes where he does get involved; challenging Selby Wall (Wuornos's partner at the time of the killings) on her denial of the relationship she had with Wuornos. Wall had claimed in court that it wasn't homosexual in nature as homosexuality didn't exist back then. And most notably in his final interview with Wuornos (the last interview she would grant) where Nick's simple, considered questions are met with increasingly confused, hysterical and angry responses, leaving the viewer in no doubt that Wuornos is clearly not of sound mind.

As for those scenes where Nick simply lets the camera roll, it's clear that he has recognised the power of what is happening in front of him and so remains (non-diegetically anyway) speechless. We see a prosecution lawyer easily exposed as a bit of a charlatan and extended takes of Wuornos's paranoid, contradictory rants. Special mention is reserved for the scene where Nick interviews Wuornos's biological mother, who left Wuornos when she was a few months old. The scene is devoid of any questioning and so becomes a confession cam, one that is completely transfixing.

In conclusion, this almost accidental documentary could wind up ranking as one of Broomfield's finest. Using himself as the unlikely inroad into worlds and societies we would consider alien (just look at his documentary on Biggie & Tupac) Broomfield allows us to see through any veneer that may previously have been present. By balancing and evolving his known confrontational style Broomfield has made the work all the more effective.