Oh, John Waters. Is there anything this man won't do? From the outset it's clear that compared to his other early films this one enjoys a slightly larger budget (wow, an original score!) that lends to slightly better production values - but rest assured such financing in no way diminishes the kinship this title shares with its brethren. This 1977 picture is reliably outlandish, outrageous, over the top, overcooked, wildly gauche, and still bears the unmistakable appearance of abject low-budget garishness. For whatever money Waters had to put into this project, he worked hard to ensure his movie retained the same look and feel as his others, tirelessly cheap in every sense. That includes fabulously and deliberately vulgar, tasteless, yet wonderfully imaginative production design and art direction, costume design, and hair and makeup work; Mortville is like the smashing together of sitcom suburbia, 'Alice in Wonderland' fancy, the silliness of Monty Python, the colorfulness of Jim Henson settings, and the modest rural living of 'The Waltons.' Does all this sound like an unseemly, questionable hodgepodge? Welcome to John Waters. Welcome to 'Desperate living.'
Utterly preposterous, as consciously filthy and perverse as it can be, and aiming always for insincerity, inauthenticity, and obscene and unremitting bombast and bluster, this is an incredible oddity. It's also a whole lot of fun! I'm not sure how much of the entertainment here is out of purposeful humor versus sheer bewilderment and disbelief, but there can be no doubt that the cast (mostly Waters' regular Dreamlander collaborators) is having a total blast, unreservedly embracing all the brazen nonsense, and that free-wheeling zest is passed on with all fidelity to the audience. Moreover, for all the many, many peculiarities of Waters' style, I think that this represents the tightest and most focused writing and direction that the filmmaker had achieved up to this point. 'Desperate living' is a flagrant, flamboyant, low-brow spectacle of indecency and inanity, yet the narrative and scene writing also boast coherence and cohesiveness that arguably surpass those of its its predecessors. This is hardly to in any way count out what the likes of 'Pink flamingos' or 'Female trouble' represent, mind you; by the same token, again, there's no shortage of foulness here despite any ways in which it's a small step up.
What we effectively have in this movie is proof positive of growth in Waters' film-making and storytelling prowess during his period of utmost sleazy schlock, while that bent toward salaciousness is in its way both more refined and possibly more extreme in the same measure. Of course, by all means, anyone who isn't already on board with Dreamland's distinct flavors will find nothing here to change their mind; this claims the same barbarity, sensationalism, and smuttiness as any of its brethren. Yet for those appreciative of all the unrestrained, impulsive self-indulgence and lewd, crude extravagance of John Waters, this might actually be the premiere example of the man at his awful, unclean best. Yes, 'Desperate living' is shocking, shameless, repugnant, bold, beastly, iniquitous, and fully enamored of its own debauchery. Yet for all that, it's also a pure, depraved delight from start to finish. It's only a niche audience who will admire this, but for those few - what an absolute joy!
Utterly preposterous, as consciously filthy and perverse as it can be, and aiming always for insincerity, inauthenticity, and obscene and unremitting bombast and bluster, this is an incredible oddity. It's also a whole lot of fun! I'm not sure how much of the entertainment here is out of purposeful humor versus sheer bewilderment and disbelief, but there can be no doubt that the cast (mostly Waters' regular Dreamlander collaborators) is having a total blast, unreservedly embracing all the brazen nonsense, and that free-wheeling zest is passed on with all fidelity to the audience. Moreover, for all the many, many peculiarities of Waters' style, I think that this represents the tightest and most focused writing and direction that the filmmaker had achieved up to this point. 'Desperate living' is a flagrant, flamboyant, low-brow spectacle of indecency and inanity, yet the narrative and scene writing also boast coherence and cohesiveness that arguably surpass those of its its predecessors. This is hardly to in any way count out what the likes of 'Pink flamingos' or 'Female trouble' represent, mind you; by the same token, again, there's no shortage of foulness here despite any ways in which it's a small step up.
What we effectively have in this movie is proof positive of growth in Waters' film-making and storytelling prowess during his period of utmost sleazy schlock, while that bent toward salaciousness is in its way both more refined and possibly more extreme in the same measure. Of course, by all means, anyone who isn't already on board with Dreamland's distinct flavors will find nothing here to change their mind; this claims the same barbarity, sensationalism, and smuttiness as any of its brethren. Yet for those appreciative of all the unrestrained, impulsive self-indulgence and lewd, crude extravagance of John Waters, this might actually be the premiere example of the man at his awful, unclean best. Yes, 'Desperate living' is shocking, shameless, repugnant, bold, beastly, iniquitous, and fully enamored of its own debauchery. Yet for all that, it's also a pure, depraved delight from start to finish. It's only a niche audience who will admire this, but for those few - what an absolute joy!