Desperate Living
Everyone in
Desperate Living
's Mortville has some horrible secret to hide. The mentally unstable Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole, in a superb display of overacting) and her 300-pound-plus maid Grizelda must take it on the lam after Grizelda smothers Peggy's husband under her elephantine buttocks. They find themselves in Mortville, a shanty fiefdom ruled by the grotesque Queen Carlotta (the incomparable Edith Massey). The evil queen delights in tormenting her subjects, but Peggy and Grizelda soon team up with a pair of lesbian outcasts, and a rebellion is in the air. John Waters's
Desperate Living
takes on the air of a seedy, trash fairy tale as the humiliated residents of Mortville rise up against the queen and the cursed princess finds herself in a power struggle against her mother. Notable for the absence of Waters regular Divine, this movie pushes the rest of the cast to their over-the-top best. Fifties sex bomb Liz Renay has a great time as Muffy St. Jacques, half of the lesbian couple, and was still looking great by the '70s. The tumbledown sets of Mortville add a surreal touch to the movie, but Edith Massey steals every scene she's in as the hateful, repulsive Queen Carlotta. Note that the actors' breath is clearly visible in many scenes; it was filmed outdoors in a bitter Baltimore winter. Nasty, shabby, gross, and hilarious, this is John Waters at his best.
--Jerry Renshaw
| uuid: |
F7667359-0ABC-4FF1-8C5A-48FFE10A9493 |
| upc: |
0794043751424 |
| title: |
Desperate Living |
| purchase date: |
06-11-2005 |
| publisher: |
Warner Home Video |
| published: |
07-09-2004 |
| price: |
$14.98 |
| MPAA Rating: |
X |
| last lookup time: |
152976048 |
| genre: |
Satire
Gay & Lesbian
Comedy
James L. Brooks
Gender Bending |
| fullTitle: |
Desperate Living |
| features: |
Color
Closed-captioned |
| director: |
John Waters |
| currentValue: |
$9.93 |
| created: |
152976048 |
| country: |
us |
| aspect: |
DVD |
| asin: |
B0002RQ3LG
|
