So low-budget that even I could have financed it; so indie that even in light of the filmmaker's subsequent fame, it's incredible anyone has ever heard of it; so left-field that it's not even in the ballpark any more. Even recognizing all the wild trips John Waters has taken audiences on over the years, 1969's 'Mondo trasho' might still be the strangest of all. I had some small idea of what to expect when I sat for the likes of 'Multiple maniacs' and 'Pink flamingos'; this is, I feel, something else entirely. There is a narrative here, but it's so odd, unorthodox, and loose as to almost diminish itself even as it unfolds. Then there's the soundtrack - consisting almost exclusively of music accordingly culled from Waters' own record collection, the songs are smashed together with a sometimes haphazard sense of editing that's deliberately scattered with no rhyme or reason. Those songs are adjoined with minimal audio and dialogue added in what here passes for post-production, providing minimal contextual auditory accompaniment to the imagery that greets us. Between the somewhat erratic storytelling and the nature of the soundtrack, thusly divorced from the footage itself, in a bizarre way the movie shares a certain kinship with the silent era, or at least that transitory period where audio was being added piecemeal to films before talkies fully took over.
This being Waters' first full-length feature following a few prior shorts, the movie bears the unmistakable hallmarks of not just its low, low budget but also the filmmaker's relative inexperience. Camerawork, editing, and often it seems his direction is all over the place; the professional development he shows in these regards, even in 1970's 'Multiple maniacs,' is notably greater. In fairness, this matches the writing (scenes and plot) that at large is like a mad fever dream - imaginative, entertaining, yet wholly bewildering. The cast, to their credit, roll with every outrageous turn, but I can scarcely fathom what a peculiar experience it must have done to make this (nor, presumably, the amount of recreational substances that were enjoyed throughout). Suffice to say that 'Mondo trasho' is quite unlike anything else. The nearest comparisons in terms of content, craftsmanship, and production values are art flicks, student films, experimental cinema, and underground exploitation all mashed into one aberrant hodgepodge, and still it's impossible to truly put into words just what it's like to watch this.
A must-see for Waters fans, this is surely recommendable as well for anyone who appreciates the most far-flung, abnormal, abstruse, and independent titles cinema has to offer. This definitely won't find appeal with the average viewer, but nor is it meant to; the filmmaker and his Dreamlanders have never really been mainstream, even if the projects may occasionally find purchase in wider pop culture. Unquestionably a dazzlingly outlandish view, 'Mondo trasho' is still also a curious good time, and I'm happy I took the opportunity to watch - only, by Jove, it's indisputably a movie for a very select niche audience.
This being Waters' first full-length feature following a few prior shorts, the movie bears the unmistakable hallmarks of not just its low, low budget but also the filmmaker's relative inexperience. Camerawork, editing, and often it seems his direction is all over the place; the professional development he shows in these regards, even in 1970's 'Multiple maniacs,' is notably greater. In fairness, this matches the writing (scenes and plot) that at large is like a mad fever dream - imaginative, entertaining, yet wholly bewildering. The cast, to their credit, roll with every outrageous turn, but I can scarcely fathom what a peculiar experience it must have done to make this (nor, presumably, the amount of recreational substances that were enjoyed throughout). Suffice to say that 'Mondo trasho' is quite unlike anything else. The nearest comparisons in terms of content, craftsmanship, and production values are art flicks, student films, experimental cinema, and underground exploitation all mashed into one aberrant hodgepodge, and still it's impossible to truly put into words just what it's like to watch this.
A must-see for Waters fans, this is surely recommendable as well for anyone who appreciates the most far-flung, abnormal, abstruse, and independent titles cinema has to offer. This definitely won't find appeal with the average viewer, but nor is it meant to; the filmmaker and his Dreamlanders have never really been mainstream, even if the projects may occasionally find purchase in wider pop culture. Unquestionably a dazzlingly outlandish view, 'Mondo trasho' is still also a curious good time, and I'm happy I took the opportunity to watch - only, by Jove, it's indisputably a movie for a very select niche audience.