Filmmaker John Waters discusses his career and the film industry in the Jeff Garlin film This Filthy World. (Filthy World/Netflix)
For 40 years, director John Waters has been peddling his special brand of perversion in films like Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Polyester, Hairspray and Pecker. Among other things, he’s responsible for the invention of the Odorama scratch-and-sniff card, the remaking of Patty Hearst as a film actress and the indelible image of drag queen Divine eating dog poo. In This Filthy World, a raunchy, funny stand-up comedy concert film ably and simply directed by actor Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Waters holds forth on these achievements and more. In front of the camera instead of behind it, Waters turns out to be a delightful raconteur, whether he’s enthusing about his obsessions (celebrity trials, vaudeville and the eccentric denizens of his hometown of Baltimore) or tackling more serious issues. In his tongue-in-cheek fashion, the self-proclaimed “filth elder” makes a case for freedom of speech, the necessity of art and the importance of education. And on that latter point, he urges his audience to go out and perform oral sex on schoolteachers to keep them happy and inspired. It just goes to prove that while Waters might have his head in the gutter, his heart is in the right place.
This Filthy World screens at TIFF Sept. 14 and 15.
Rachel Giese writes about the arts for CBC.ca.
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