Joseph Pujol (1857-1945) is one of the little known performing stars of the Belle Epoque. His talent was one of the most unusual ever witnessed -- he could expel air from his bowels with both force and musical control. Because of his great versatility and showmanship, he became the toast of Paris in his time.

When, as a child, he was terrified to discover that he could expel water from his anus, his mother took him to a doctor, who proclaimed in typically extreme Victorian fashion, "I treated him the same way I treat boys his age with a bruised penis; I told him to stop whatever game he was up to, or he would see the wrath of God."

His story is explored partially through the words of various critics and social historians, several of whom have their heads inserted into a place that Le Petomane himself might fear to explore. Thomas Fielding, an Art Historian, is particularly pompous, and while explaining the etymology of the word "petard," states, "It’s this crossbreeding between the fart and the anarchist explosion that lies at the center, right at the center, I think, of Le Petomane’s practice; he was an anal anarchist."

This is a smart and funny documentary which not only examines the world of a flatulent maestro, but is also a revealing peek at the overblown analyses of those who parasitically make their living via misguided, high-handed critique.