Jeff Garlin
2006
Cinemavault
86 min.
John Waters and David Lynch are the greatest American filmmakers, and neither one of them has made a feature length film in years. Waters, in interviews, has complained of difficulties in securing funding for his film projects, a problem which stalled production of his last film in progress, a work titled Fruitcake. Instead they've focused their energies on creative outlets such as lecturing (Waters is listed as a speaker at the European Graduate School), writing, music and photography. This Filthy World is an example of one of Waters' side gigs, a one-man show of the filmmaker speaking about his experiences as a low budget independent Baltimore movie director.
The show is essentially a staged telling of much of the same material that appears in Waters' book, Shock Value. He speaks about his life with the Dreamlanders, the name he and his friends used for the little social group they assembled to star in, and produce his early films. He speaks about his interest in attending criminal trials, his interest in unusual sexual practices, his illegal filmmaking practices, the trashy films and filmmakers who influenced him. This Filthy World shows John Waters joining other 'alternative' figures like Henry Rollins who draw in audiences to listen to them become storytellers of the countercultural past.
