Female Trouble (1974)

Director: John Waters Stars: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce

Review:

Comparing to the notorious Pink Flamingos (1972), John Waters' Female Trouble (1974) is relatively unknown. However I found Female Trouble more hilarious and enjoyable, while Pink Flamingos at times went a little bit too gross. Also it is incredible that the whole theme and style bears uncanny resemblance to Almodovar's movies, with all those drag performance, tacky woman and campy clothes. Yes it is preposterous comparing the master of bad-taste trash films to the master of arthouse cinema, but that is the genuine feeling that I have. It is almost a parody to Almodovar, only made earlier of the target it is making fun with.

The movie follows the live of Divine's character, Dawn Davenport, beginning from her high school life. She was too different from a normal rebellious school girl, bullying others and eating on class. On christmas day she verbally fucked her parents and left home just because they did not give her Cha Cha Heels for present. 

"Get off me you ugly witch! I hate you! Fuck you! Fuck you both you awful people! You are not my parents! I hate you!"

She ran off from the house and fucked with a driver than was passing by (played also by Divine himself). Davenport was pregnant, and gave birth on a couch all by herself and bite off the umbilical cord with her own mouth. How does she live through the pregnancy, given that her market being a prostitute would be limited, I do not know. But hey this is trash film. Logic does not apply here.

Biting off the umbilical cord.

She live her life as a thief with two of her friends. They introduce her to a private beauty salon own by Mr & Mrs Dasher, which marks the beginning of her descend to insanity, and it is hilarious every moment of it. Mr & Mrs Dashers has a really twisted sense of beauty. Davenport was disfigured by her ex-husband's aunt for getting divorced and drove her husband away. Mr & Mrs Dashers considered her melted face beauty and take a photoshot before calling the ambulance. 

Davenport poses for a photo before committing a crime: hitting her daughter with a chair.

They also have the crazy theory that relates crime with beauty, and encourages her to perform different criminal acts in front of the camera. They kidnapped the aunt for her to chop off her hand in return the favour of giving her such "beauty", and inject eyeliner into her bloodstream. Davenport, after all these flattering, was getting hysterical. She screamed happily after strangling her daughter to death right before going on stage for a nightclub act.

I do not know what Davenport is doing for the nightclub act, other than being pure hysterical. She was jumping, bouncing, putting raw fish into her mouth and on her crotch, and tearing a book into pieces. I could not stop laughing because everything was so disjointed and utterly stupid. At last she went berserk and shot the audience.

"Ah hahaha!! She's finally dead! Oh I think I'm ready to go on now!"

Davenport was caught and brought to court. Now it is everyone for themselves, and the Dashers denied everything but pointing the finger to Davenport. Davenport was sentenced to death, but she was so fucked up that she thinks the electric chair is the highlight of her career in the show business, and even gave a speech for it. Some people maybe consider the death scene sad, but I still found it funny. 

The whole movie is a laugh riot, but with cheap sex and bloody murder. It is true that it is not as shocking as the Pink Flamingos, with scenes like eating dog turd, that is what make it easiler to laugh along with. The most shocking scene in here would be seeing (supposedly) Divine's dick, which I do not know it is special effect or not, it looks like nasty infected. It's a constant flow of stupid events and keeps you interested with the dumb plot rather than hating it.