Customer Reviews

Desperate Visions: The Films of John Waters & the Kuchar Brothers (Creation Cinema Collection)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While essential fare for John Waters completists, "Desperate Visions" does not offer much information about the director of "Pink Flamingos" and other cult classic films that cannot be found elsewhere. As far as literature about Waters' productions and his cast of crazies, I recommend reading his own "Shock Value" and "Crackpot." These books, which also feature interviews with dreamlanders and articulate in hilarious prose the director's views and philosophis, are every bit as outrageous as the films themselves. What "Desperate Visions" offers is an excellent introduction by Jack Stevenson that takes a probing look at how Waters' films work in a socio-political context. He does gush about the work, but he deconstructs it too, and in an interesting way. His handling of the interviews is less compelling, as he seems to be pushing for the various actors to wax as shocking and ludicrous as they are in the movies. This works only with Jean Hill, the 400-lb actress known for her turn as Griselda in "Desperate Living," whose insane segment is worth the price of the book alone. Also included are pictures from her photo shoot at Jumbo magazine that you really have to see to believe.

The second half of "Desperate Visions" is about Mike and George Kuchar, twin independant film-makers whose work had a tremendous influence on Waters. I didn't expect to get into this part considering I had only seen one Kuchar film prior to reading it, but what a fascinating read! Stevenson locates their work in the 1960's underground film movement and provides a history o f what was going on at that time. He also includes a number of written works by George Kuchar that are incredibly beautiful. And finally, there is a chunk of the book devoted to Marion Eaton, a cult celebrity who appeared in some of their films. I was left wishing that "Thundercrack!" had been released on video - hell, DVD - before it's untimely demise.

For fans of John Waters, Divine, the brothers Kuchar and the rest of this perverted cavalcade, this book is a must. The interviews are rather informative, almost a little too informative, being as how a lot of the content is focused on very personal experiences and unless you ran with the crowd in Baltimore you have no idea what Stevenson and Waters are talking about. The pictures are awesome. There are some nice shots of Waters' first flicks including Hag in a Black Leather Jacket and Eat your Makeup. The section on the Kuchars was not nearly as interesting to me because i am much more of a Waters fan. I am sure it is very well done if you are a fan of those Kucharian films. Still, it's hard not to feel left out of the loop. The filmography and index are especially helpful. Not something to just sit down and read. More of a film class research type piece. Also, many good quotes.