Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20915 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-09-04
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 177 minutes

Amazon.com
Director John Waters broke new boundaries of bad taste with his hilariously trashy tale of suburban misadventure Polyester. His favorite leading lady, transvestite Divine, plays Francine Fishpaw, a dissatisfied suburban housefrau who longs for a little romance in her life because her husband and children drive her crazy. Salvation arrives in the form of Tod Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), a drive-in owner who sweeps Francine off her feet (a mean task, given Divine's girth). But he's not all he's cracked up to be.

Everyone in Desperate Living's Mortville has some horrible secret to hide. The mentally unstable Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole, in a superb display of overacting) and her 300-pound-plus maid Grizelda must take it on the lam after Grizelda smothers Peggy's husband under her elephantine buttocks. They find themselves in Mortville, a shanty fiefdom ruled by the grotesque Queen Carlotta (the incomparable Edith Massey). The evil queen delights in tormenting her subjects, but Peggy and Grizelda soon team up with a pair of lesbian outcasts, and a rebellion is in the air. Notable for the absence of Waters regular Divine, this movie pushes the rest of the cast to their over-the-top best. Nasty, shabby, gross, and hilarious, this is John Waters at his best.

Customer Reviews

The Wonder of Odorama & A Trip To Mortville
Two more of John Waters cinematic attrocities have finally been released on DVD. If you only know Waters through his more recent titles Hairspray, Serial Mom, and Cry-Baby, you may be surprised at what lurks on these discs.

The first film is Desperate Living. I must tell you I am a long-time Waters fan, and have seen all his film from Mondo Trasho on (including The Diane Linkletter Story), but sadly, this is my least favorite of his films. It's not necessarily bad (for a John Waters movie, that is); it just is not as funny or as happy as his other films. Neither Divine (who was unavailable) nor David Lockery (who was dead) appeared in Desperate Living, and Waters seemed lost without them. This movie is about a town called Mortville, where criminals are allowed to live instead of going to prison. Edith Massey, in her best film role, plays evil Queen Carlotta, who relishes in humiliating her subjects and having her sexual needs met by her "goons". Mink Stole is also in top form here, thanks to the meaty role of an hysterical housewife, who, together with her maid Grizelda, murder her husband and escape to Mortville. Another Waters regular, Mary Vivian Pearce, plays Princess Coo-Coo who, against Queen Carlotta's wishes, falls in love with the garbage collector at the Mortville nudist colony. There are also a female-to-male sex-change operation, a bowl of dog food used as a murder weapon, and female "glory holes" which must be seen to be believed.

Polyester, on the other hand, is a great film. Although Hairspray was Waters breakthrough to mainstream filmmaking, you can tell he was on his way with Polyester. Divine is back, this time playing a victimized housewife with a philandering husband and two dilinquent children. Her life is a complete mess until she meets suave, debonair, (and rich!) Todd Tomorrow, played by Tab Hunter, Waters' first "real" movie star. However, Todd may not be what he appears to be... In an homage to film director William Castle, who used gimmicks to promote his movies, Waters used a gimmick for Polyester: Odorama. Theatergoers were issued Odorama Cards upon entering the theater; each card had ten numbered scratch-and-sniff patches on one side. At certain points during the film, a number would flash on the screen, indicating that it was time to scratch and sniff. The DVD comes with one Odorama card, which is great, unless you want to have a movie party. However, vintage Odorama cards can usually be purchased reasonably on eBay. Just heed the film's warning: "Some things in life just plain stink!"

The commentary track for Polyester is Waters at his brilliant best--most of his audio commentaries are as funny or funnier than his films. The track for Desperate Living, on the other hand, is a disappointment. Waters shares the track with cast member Liz Renay, who has a tendancy to ramble on about things having nothing to do with the movie. You get the impression that each was allotted a set amount of time, and Waters, who's commentary is informative and entertaining is continuously curtailed by Miss Renay's incessant chatter. Waters' other "shared" commentary track is on the DVD of Hairspray. He is joined by Ricki Lake, and their give and take works great. For Desperate Living, Waters should have gone it alone.

POLYESTER gets better with age!
Being a huge John Waters fan, I am delighted to see many of his infamous, earlier films being released on DVD. However, it's amazing to me how the passage of time changes your perspective. I used to think that "Desperate Living" was second only to "Female Trouble" as John Waters' best film and thought that "Polyester" was an occasionally funny, but slightly derivative suburban satire. After watching these two films again recently, my opinions have reversed.

Despite some sharp writing and some deliciously rude moments, "Desperate Living" is almost unbearable to watch due to the fact that 95% of the dialogue is either shouted or shrieked. In fact, the only other film I could compare it to is "Network", another film that's brilliantly written, but agonizing to sit through due to the shrillness of the performances. While Waters earlier films are hardly subtle, "Desperate Living" is particularly grating.

On the other hand, "Polyester" gets better and better as time goes on. While not as visually shocking as "Desperate Living", "Polyester" has a better script, contains much funnier dialogue and has a better satirical edge. Bratty Lulu's speech about how she can't wait to have an abortion, likening her fetus to "a cancer ... eating away at all the fun I deserve to have" seems even more offensive nowadays. The film's attacks on right-to-lifers and moral majority types is especially daring, considering its Regan-era release date.

All in all, if you're a Waters fan, you've gotta buy this package, but I think I'll be watching "Polyester" a bit more often than "Desperate Living".

Funny commentaries, but "Desperate Living" only for true fan

This package, the second part of a dvd trilogy, is a must for Waters' fans. As usual, his commentary tracks are very funny and even hold up to repeated listenings. The sound isn't spectacular -- Desperate Living is mono and Polyester Dolby Surround -- but I'm sure this is due to limitations in the source material. Until "Hairspray", John Waters was a very low budget director. "Polyester", his most mainstream film at the time of its release, still only cost about $300,000 to produce. But some of his earliest films are his best, and I put "Polyester" in that camp. The script is very funny and all of the performers give outstanding, if idiosyncratic, performances. There certainly has never been and probably will never be another performer like Edith Massey. And, yes, the dvd does come with an "Odorama" card!

I have always been less thrilled with "Desperate Living." I enjoyed it more this time around, but I still find it less consistently funny than Waters' best films. The first 15 minutes or so are hysterical; Mink Stole screams some of the funniest lines Waters has ever written. But once the scene shifts to Mortville, the script is uneven and, at times, even boring.

Apart from the commentaries (the commentary track on "Desperate Living" also includes "star" Liz Renay), there aren't many extras -- just a few trailers. I hope that when the "Pink Flamingos"/
"Female Trouble" set comes out that the FT disc either includes deleted scenes or features the longer version that I have seen in the theater but not on home video.

Also of note: if one buys all three 3-packs, one can send away for a "bonus" John Waters dvd ... -- certificate in package, also requires original yellow tabs from all three dvd sets.