This Filthy World

The 'pope of trash' was how William S. Burroughs once dubbed filmmaker John Waters. In this film portrait the high priest of bad taste grants us something of a private audience. Everything you ever wanted to know about the director of HAIRSPRAY and POLYESTER but never dared ask is answered here in a highly entertaining, extremely professional one-man show - for John Waters is a tried and tested stage performer. When he began making films in the 1960s, he travelled the country with his early works, MONDO TRASHO and MULTIPLE MANIACS, presenting them as part of a stage performance that is still legendary today, the high point of which was a live appearance by Waters' 'superstar' Divine. Waters and Divine appeared together at cinemas, punk rock venues, comedy clubs, colleges and even Oxford University. But this film is not merely a retrospective view of these heady times. Not only does Waters regale us with numerous anecdotes from the past, he is also delighted to provide us with an insight into the workings of his mind. The result is a vivid depiction of his obsessions such as actual crimes, exploitation films, and the most ridiculous excesses of the world of contemporary art. One of the holy cows Waters takes relish in slaughtering is independent cinema, of which he is a founding father. He is particularly sceptical when it comes to contemporary filmmaking, yet he has plenty of warm advice for young cineastes: "All young people need somebody bad to look up to and I hope I can do that for tonight. Sort of a filth elder, if you will."