Le Petomane: Fin-de-Siècle Fartiste

"His wind would be a leveling force," remarks one cultural critic concerning the across-the-classes appeal of Joseph Pujol's (a.k.a. "Le Petomane") Moulin Rouge act in Paris at the turn of the century. With the ability to use his bowels as a second set of lungs and possessing perhaps the best trained anal lips in history, Le Petomane wowed audiences in the Moulin Rouge with his odd musical act during the 1890s (in 1892, he actually outgrossed--in both senses--actress Sarah Bernhard) until opening his own theater. In 1900, he was even the subject of an Edison-produced short film that wasn't shown when Pujol learned a noxious smell would waft over the audience from a device known as an olfactograph--Pujol, who took meticulous hygienic care (indeed his performances were noted to be essentially scent-free thanks to rigorous pre-show enemas) was outraged. When Pujol left the Moulin Rouge, the management retaliated by hiring "impostors" whom Pujol exposed as fakes, though one woman, Mere Alexander, was quite good (still, critics contend that she was not, strictly speaking, playing the butt trumpet, but rather using an anatomical advantage to produce vaginal farts). Fascinating stuff? Well, yes it is. Unfortunately, Igor Vamos' film does not live up to its sensational subject. Almost no footage of Pujol is shown, and much of the footage we do see seems utterly irrelevant to the subject. Too, the assertions of the cultural critics range from the interesting to the absurd (the case that Pujol used his peculiar wind instrument as some kind of anarchic statement seems a little strained). Still, one (okay, this one) can't help but be enthralled by the many weird connections for which there is proof: among the weirdest is the composer Erik Satie's music sheet in-jokes in homage to Le Petomane, the master flatulator. Question is: if you're an academic librarian, how do you justify spending nearly $300 on a documentary about a guy who, unlike most of us, could carry a decent tune when he passed gas? An optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)