Review of Desperate Living (1977) by Private U — 29 Apr 2008
Lesbians, cannibals, senseless ranting, sadomasochism, and fat drunk maids, this is John Waters at his best. The process of making trash is subdivided into the field of the conscious creators and the accidental voyeur.
The accidental creator of trash is laughed at and scoffed at among friends, but the deliberate creator of trash acheives a level of deity when successful. John Waters' Pink Flamingos acheived this, but Desparate Living brought it to another level.
Production values are higher and therefore the new art of producing trash for the sole use of producing it come out in the film. Mortville is a delight that lives in the imagination of a director who trully understands that while there may be a platonic form for beauty, there is certainly one for disgust.
Mink Stole and Jean Hill (Grizelda) are phenomenal and the former trumping her delightful role in Pink Flamingos. Eddie translates better in her role as the handicapped-egg-loving mother in Pink Flamingos instead of a nympho-sadistic queen.
It achieves a level of atrocity that needs no revision into the realm of art.
This review of Desperate Living (1977) was written by Private U on 29 Apr 2008.
Desperate Living has generally received positive reviews.
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