Mark Ruggio

A fake documentary about the rise and fall of the (real life) “flatulist” performer Le Pétomane, who narrates his story from Purgatory.

Under the stage name "Le Petomane," Joseph Pujol was the toast of turn-of-the-century Paris. Audiences at the Moulin Rouge where first shocked, then won over, by this tall, mustachioed man in a red velvet suit...a suite with a hole cut in the derriere to release his remarkable talent. Pujol was a skilled musician in his own right, but his greatest instrument was his own rectum, with which he could produce an astounding variety of musical tones. Through a combination of historical documents, photographs, archival films, and interviews, this video reclaims Pujol's place in history and, in the process, opens up a veritable Pandora's box of contemporary debate over the meaning, impact, and value of this unusual master flatulator.