Pain Is... combines interviews, archival footage and Dwoskin's thoughtful voice-over to reach the scrupulous anatomy of pain (encompassing illness, dental work and sadomasochism). The interviewees range from those who suffer from chronic pain to those who encounter pleasure in intentionally inflicted pain. Dwoskin does not scorn the distinction, by choosing instead the search for underlying meanings. If he enters into tortured semiotics, he examines the language of pain and asks himself, among other things, if it is possible "to create an image of pain." Dennis Lim
