This Filthy World

John Waters is renowned for his classic transgressive trash films of the 1970’s like Pink Flamingos, starring frequent collaborator, the transvestite Divine, as well as David Lochary and Mink Stole. He first found mainstream acceptance with Hairspray (1988), which featured Ricki Lake, Deborah Harry, Sonny Bono and again, Divine and Mink Stole. A remake of Hairspray is being released next week, while a Broadway musical version had a run in 2002.

This Filthy World is directed by Jeff Garlin, who is probably best known for his role in Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry David’s manager. The film depicts eighty minutes of what may be described as a stand-up comedy routine by Waters. It may have been written as such, but it has more of an appearance of the director sharing some of his life stories with an audience, in which he reveals various anecdotes from his past during the making of his films, and some of his influences.

Waters may be the King of crude, but he is also a very polished performer, something he apparently picked up from the early days of travelling around the US. He would screen his films in small cinemas and personally present them on stage. He clearly has enormous intellect and a keen sense of humour. Even if you know nothing of his work, his stories are very compelling and entertaining.

This Filthy World premieres at ACMI tonight and also screensnext Friday. Check it out. For more details, see the ACMI website.