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Jun 30, 2014 By Zach Hollwedel Web Exclusive

At one time the highest grossing entertainers on the Vaudeville circuit, Daisy and Violet Hilton were musically gifted sisters whose act featured one thing no other duo could replicate: they were conjoined twins. Beginning with the upsetting circumstances of their birth—their mother did not want them and sold them to a tavern owner—tracing their monumental rise and myriad betrayals by swindling managers, and culminating with their disappearance from fame, director Leslie Zemeckis’ documentary incorporates photos, footage, and eyewitness accounts from the sisters’ shared lives.

Zemeckis nails the spirits of oddness and voyeurism that made freak shows so popular, and that’s both praise and part of the film’s weakness. From the subject matter to the interviewees and even the editing techniques, Bound By Flesh plays with a bygone showmanship that at times feels more like a celebrity gossip show on E! than a feature documentary. From wipes to image pop-ups (and repeatedly used B-roll), some of Zemeckis’ editing choices recall a student playing with transitions in her first film class.

The interview subjects themselves are a past breed of traveling American showmen with their own taste of class, trash, and intrigue. They make for interesting studies to be sure, but their fascination tends to linger on the twins’ sexual encounters, which at a certain point earns a check mark in the gossipy column, rather than the enlightening one. It is hard to tell how seriously anyone involved takes the twins and their sad plight. Bound By Flesh is yet another in the ever-growing canon of sad Hollywood/entertainer tales, and apart from the skin that bound the sisters together and launched them to stardom in the first place, the Hilton’s fall from celebrity ultimately has little to do with the fact they were conjoined.

www.boundbyflesh.com

Author rating: 4/10