Oh, the face of evil can be charming. Remember Hannibal Lecter. Orconsider, in the real world, the case of Ivan Nagy. He is a sometime Hollywoodmovie director who was also--if you can believe his detractors--a pimp, a drugdealer, and a police informer who betrayed his lover while still sleeping withher. He has an impish little smile that he allows to play around his face, andit implicates you in his sleaze. Come on, the smile suggests, who are wekidding? We're all men of the world here; we know this stuff goes on. Ivan Nagy was a key player in the life of Heidi Fleiss, the ``HollywoodMadam,'' who was sentenced to three years for procuring prostitutes for anA-list of top Hollywood players and free-spending Arabs. Fleiss was not aninnocent when she met Nagy. At 16, she was already the lover of the millionairefinancial swindler Bernie Cornfield. But it was Nagy who (according to thelegendary Madam Alex) ``sold'' Fleiss to Alex for $500, then used her as a moleto take over Alex's thriving call girl operation. And it was Nagy who eventuallyturned Fleiss over to the police--again, if Madam Alex can be believed. What is intriguing about ``Heidi Fleiss, Hollywood Madam'' is that noone can necessarily be believed. This is an endlessly suggestive, tantalizingdocumentary, in which the young life of Heidi Fleiss is reflected back at usfrom funhouse mirrors: Now she is a clever businesswoman, now a dupe, now acynical hooker, now an innocent wrapped around the little finger of amanipulative hustler. Watching the film, we hear several versions of the samestories. Someone is lying, yes--but is anyone telling the truth? Nick Broomfield is an enterprising documentary filmmaker for the BBC whotracks his prey with a lightweight camera and sound equipment that can heararound corners. This film is the record of his six months on the case of HeidiFleiss. She might seem like an insignificant, even pathetic figure, but by thetime Broomfield is finished she has become a victim, and almost sympathetic, ifonly in contrast with the creatures she dealt with. She wanted to be bad, buthad absolutely no idea what she was getting into. ``As much bravado as shedisplays, to me she's still a little kid,'' her mother tells Broomfield. Her mother participated in this documentary? Most certainly. And so didFleiss, and Nagy, and Victoria Sellers (Peter's daughter and Heidi's bestfriend), and Madam Alex, and former Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates. Theyparticipated because Broomfield paid them to talk. Madam Alex counts out hercash carefully, and we see Gates pocketing $2,500 before submitting toBroomfield's questions. What we learn is that Alex was for many years the most successful madamin Los Angeles. Arrested for tax evasion, she got off with probation after anLAPD detective testified she was a valuable police informant. She allegedly usedNagy, a filmmaker with a respectable front, to obtain airline tickets for her,since she couldn't get a credit card. Perhaps he also located cocaine for herclients. She says Nagy ``sold'' her Fleiss, when Fleiss was about 20 years old,and that Fleiss helped Nagy steal away her empire. Fleiss was the front, butNagy was always the power and the brains. Nagy says Madam Alex was ``one of the most evil women I've met in mylife.'' He smiles. He asks Broomfield, ``Do I look like I need $500?'' Then hesells him a home video of himself and Fleiss. In the video, he tries to get herto take off her clothes, and she observes with concern but not alarm that ``somegreen stuff'' is coming out of that part of a man's anatomy he least desires toproduce green stuff. A man who would sell that video needs $500. Broomfield finds Mike Brambles, an LAPD detective (now in jail forrobbery), who says Fleiss' problem was that she was a bad police informant. Shedidn't cooperate, and so Nagy set her up to take the fall. Fleiss doesn't seemto know if this is true. She describes her business (her clients wanted``typical untouched Southern California 18-year-old girls next door. No highheels. Blonds, blonds, blonds''). She is realistic (``A lot of times they'd hireus just to watch them do drugs''). She confesses to always having been attractedto older men (``Over 40, they're all the right age to me''). There is talk of a shadowy Israeli named Cookie, whom everyone in thefilm seems frightened of. If Nagy is the power behind Fleiss, is Cookie behindeverything? No one will say. Broomfield is tireless in poking his nose, andcamera, into these lives. During one visit to Alex he finds her maid usingincense to purify the apartment against evil spirits. Nagy conducts a tour ofhis art collection. Fleiss is interviewed in front of her bookshelf, whichcontains a set of the Great Books of the Western World: Did she buy them, or dida client trade them in? At the end of the film, after Fleiss has been found guilty and is goingto prison, and has every reason to hate Nagy, there is a remarkable scene. Nagyphones her, and lets us eavesdrop as he sweet-talks her. You can tell she stillfalls for him. Nagy smiles to the camera, helplessly: ``There you go,'' he says.

Charming.