Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs | |
---|---|
![]() Promotional release poster | |
Directed by | John Waters |
Written by | John Waters |
Produced by | John Waters |
Starring | |
Cinematography | John Waters |
Edited by | John Waters |
Music by | John Waters |
Production company | |
Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes[2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $5,000 |
Box office | $33,036[3] |
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 independent American black comedy film composed, shot, edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters, as his second feature film and first "talkie".[4] It features several actors who were part of the Dreamland acting troupe for Waters' films, including Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, George Figgs, and Cookie Mueller. The plot follows a traveling troupe of sideshow freaks who rob their unsuspecting audience members.
A major restoration received national exhibition in August 2016, after initially screening in June at the Provincetown Film Festival.
Plot
[edit]Lady Divine is the owner and operator of The Cavalcade of Perversion, a free exhibit of various perversions and fetish acts and obscenities, such as the "Puke Eater". The show is free, but the various performers must persuade and even physically drag reluctant passers-by to attend.
At the finale to every show, Lady Divine appears and robs the patrons at gunpoint. This arrangement seems successful to Mr. David, Lady Divine's lover, but Lady Divine becomes bored with the routine and decides to murder the patrons rather than merely robbing them. After escaping the murder scene, she comes home to Cookie, her prostitute daughter, and her new boyfriend Steve, a member of the Weather Underground.
Lady Divine receives a call from Edith, proprietor of the local bar, who informs her that Mr. David had been at her bar with another woman (Mary Vivian Pearce). Lady Divine heads there to catch them, but is raped on the way by two glue-sniffers. Meanwhile, Mr. David and his new lover Bonnie, a woman who desperately wants to be part of the troupe, engage in sex acts at the home he shares with Lady Divine, during which Bonnie anally penetrates him with a dildo.
While Lady Divine contemplates her rape, the Infant of Prague appears and leads her to a church. Making her way uncertainly into the church, Lady Divine prays, but is then approached and seduced by a strange young woman named Mink. They have a sexual encounter in the church pew, with Mink inserting a rosary in Divine's rectum while describing the Stations of the Cross.
Now lesbian lovers, Lady Divine and Mink go to Edith's bar with the intent to kill Mr. David and his mistress, but they are too late: David and Bonnie, who have by this time decided that they have to kill Lady Divine to protect themselves, have left.
Mr. David returns to Cookie's house, intent on killing Divine, but instead he finds Cookie and fellow Cavalcade performer Ricky there. An argument ensues, and Bonnie accidentally kills Cookie. They tie up Ricky and hide Cookie's corpse just before Divine and Mink return. When Bonnie tries to shoot Lady Divine, Divine attacks and kills her with a knife. She then turns on Mr. David and eviscerates him as well, cannibalizing his internal organs, and becoming even more frenzied. Ricky suddenly surprises Mink, who shoots him. In a fit of anger, Divine accuses Mink of betrayal and stabs her. Divine becomes even more crazed upon finding her daughter Cookie's body hidden behind the couch.
Exhausted from the ordeal, Lady Divine collapses on a couch and is subsequently raped by a giant lobster. In the aftermath (mumbling "You're a maniac now, Divine"), she destroys a car, then wanders Baltimore trying to kill anyone she can. The National Guard appear, surround Lady Divine on the street, and shoot her, to the tune of "America the Beautiful".
Cast
[edit]- Divine as Lady Divine
- David Lochary as Mr. David
- Mary Vivian Pearce as Bonnie
- Mink Stole as Mink / The Religious Whore
- Cookie Mueller as Cookie Divine
- Edith Massey as Edith the Barmaid / Virgin Mary
- Paul Swift as Steve
- George Figgs as Jesus Christ
- Michael Renner Jr. as The Infant of Prague
- Rick Morrow as Ricky
Production
[edit]Development
[edit]Waters has said he was influenced by Herschell Gordon Lewis's Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) when writing the film, and the title Multiple Maniacs is a direct reference.[5] The idea for "Lobstora"—the giant lobster that rapes Divine towards the end of the film—was derived from a combination of influences: Salvador Dalí; Jack Smith; a postcard for Provincetown, Massachusetts, that featured a lobster in the sky overlooking a beach; and taking LSD and cannabis.[6][7]
Filming
[edit]Filming took place in Baltimore, Maryland.[5] The scene in which Divine cannibalizes Mr. David's innards was accomplished using a cow's heart that Waters had purchased from a butcher two days prior and refrigerated.[8] Lobstora was played by Vince Peranio and Peranio's brother in a papier-mâché costume.[6]
Themes
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Queerness and trash
[edit]Waters, in an interview regarding the re-release of the film in 2016 is quoted as saying "There was such a war going on then between the hippies and the straight world; and straight didn’t mean heterosexual … it meant you didn’t smoke pot or you didn’t think the revolution was going to happen."[8] Multiple Maniacs has often been described as a camp movie. Guy Schaffer, a lecturer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, describes camp aesthetics in queer movies as a mode of reappropriating and revaluing "trash" whilst still broadcasting the trashiness of the things it glamorizes.[9] The perceived trash in this case is not only the visual aesthetics but the main characters which are depicted as criminals, sodomites, cannibals, etc, the trash of society. This is evident as in the Cavalcade of Perversion, puke eaters and "actual queers kissing" are part-and-parcel of the same show, and elicit the same guttural reactions from the "straight" crowd. These depictions of filth reflect the sentiment social deviants such as queers might feel in reaction to society's treatment of deviants. "By forging a radical form of glamour based on a revaluation of trash and low culture, these performances refuse to value authenticity over artifice, beauty over ugliness, truth over trash."[10] This encapsulates the sentiment of John Waters films, more specifically Multiple Maniacs. At the end after being raped, and beaten, Divine proclaims "I'm a maniac! A maniac that cannot be cured! O Divine, I am Di-vine!"[11] And although she might've been proclaiming her name, it is no coincidence that Divine was the chosen name of a character that seems to embody degeneracy itself. Divine harnesses her power in these stories from the misfortune she faces. Every crime committed (against her or by her) pushes her further to the edge of society where she is then inclined to radicalize her behavior in retribution which actually brings a sense of freedom from society. Multiple maniacs is the intrinsic depiction of the perceived "free queer" in the 70s when the film was made: A sideshow attraction, criminal, needle-using junkie; But it is also the intrinsic satire.
Religious imagery
[edit]John Waters has been described as the "Pope of Trash," a reference to the role that religious imagery plays throughout his films. In Multiple Maniacs, Divine is part of a dysfunctional heterosexual relationship. After she is raped once more, she awakens to the Infant of Prague by her side. The child leads her to a church where she has her first homosexual encounter: A "rosary job" performed by Mink Stoles character. The sex scene is also intercut with reenactments of the crucifixion. John Waters noted in an interview in 2016 that the Catholic church is the only enemy he has left and that the religion is so inherently anti-sex that it's easy to sexualize it.[12] Moreover, he describes that rosaries and other religious garbs were popular at the time in counter-culture movements such as goth. The scene was inspired by a rosary that Mink Stole wore on her time off-camera.[12] Waters has stated that he believes there is no God, but the comfort brought by God is real. He quotes David Baddiel, a Jewish comedian as saying "I am moved by Jewish survival…I am moved by it comically, when, before every dinner that marks every Jewish festival, some guest says, 'They tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat.'"[13]
Release
[edit]Multiple Maniacs had its world premiere at the First Unitarian Church in Baltimore on April 10, 1970.[1] Waters later recalled that he toured the film throughout the United States, showing it at small arthouse theaters and other venues which often required a deposit to screen features.[14] The film also showed internationally, with screenings in England in early 1971.[15] In 2024, Waters recalled an incident where the Ontario Censor Board burnt a print of Multiple Maniacs that he sent for review.[16]
Critical response
[edit]Upon the film's debut in 1970, The Baltimore Sun's Lou Cedrone wrote: "Multiple Maniacs is very smelly, save for a moment here and there when the Waters humor is apparent. And humor he has. It's just a shame he has chosen to ignore that for the brutality which is not, as he and his audiences may think, a gas."[17] In 1981, Geoffrey Himes, also of The Baltimore Sun, referred to the film as "thoroughly disgusting" yet "also quite funny at times."[18]
The film holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Waters' highest-rated film on the site.[19]
2016 restoration
[edit]A new restoration of Multiple Maniacs by American art house film distribution company Janus Films and video distribution company The Criterion Collection was previewed June 17, 2016 at the Provincetown Film Festival, and national exhibition began August 5, 2016 at the IFC Center in New York City.[20][21]
The Criterion Collection released the restored print on Blu-ray and DVD on March 21, 2017, featuring a commentary track by Waters among other newly produced special features.[22] This release marked the first time the film had been available on a home format in 30 years, since its original VHS release by Cinema Group in 1987.[citation needed]
Box office
[edit]Multiple Maniacs grossed $33,036 in North America.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Harris, Joann (April 12, 1970). "Baltimore Film Fete Planned for Saturday". The Baltimore Sun. p. 114 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Multiple Maniacs (18)". British Board of Film Classification. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
- ^ a b "Multiple Maniacs (2016 re-issue)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ Waters, John (1981). Shock value. New York, New York: Dell Pub. Co. p. 61. ISBN 044057871X.
- ^ a b "Dreamlanders look back on 'Multiple Maniacs'". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. September 4, 2016. p. E4 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b John Waters "On Stage with the Pope of Trash" (Extended) | BFI. YouTube. Event occurs at 28:38. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
- ^ McGovern, Joe (August 5, 2016). "John Waters explains that infamous Divine-lobster scene in Multiple Maniacs". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Smith, Nigel M. (August 3, 2016). "John Waters brings back Multiple Maniacs: 'Of course I went a little too far'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ Schaffer, Guy. "Camp". Discard Studies Compendium.
- ^ Davies 2004.
- ^ Davies 2004, p. 71.
- ^ a b Kelsey, Colleen (September 2, 2016). "'Probably the Only Enemy I Have Left is the Catholic Church': An Interview with John Waters". Hazlitt.
- ^ Waters, John (September 26, 2023). "The Loss of Wonder Leads to Secularism". First Things.
- ^ Waters, John (August 6, 2016). "John Waters On "Multiple Maniacs"". BUILD Series (Interview). Interviewed by Ricky Camilleri. AOL. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
- ^ "Where to Go Today". The Observer. London. January 13, 1971 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bergeson, Samantha (April 4, 2024). "John Waters Recalls Ontario Censor Board Burning the Print of 'Multiple Maniacs': 'I Spit on Their Grave'". IndieWire. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ^ Cedrone, Lou (April 14, 1970). "Waters and His "Maniacs"". The Baltimore Sun. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Himes, Geoffrey (January 16, 1981). "'Multiple Maniacs' back to mock censor board". The Baltimore Sun – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Multiple Maniacs at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Nordine, Michael (June 8, 2016). "John Waters' 'Multiple Maniacs' to Receive Theatrical Re-Release". IndieWire. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
- ^ Gallagher, Ryan (June 8, 2016). "John Waters' Multiple Maniacs Restored by The Criterion Collection Janus Films". CriterionCast.com. CriterionCast LLC. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
- ^ "Multiple Maniacs Blu-ray Release Date March 21, 2017". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
Works cited
[edit]- Davies, Jon (June 2004). Trash is Truth: Performances of Transgressive Glamour (PDF) (M.A. thesis). Toronto, Canada: York University. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Multiple Maniacs at IMDb
- Multiple Maniacs at AllMovie
- Multiple Maniacs at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Multiple Maniacs at the British Board of Film Classification
- Multiple Maniacs at the British Film Institute[better source needed]
- Multiple Maniacs at Rotten Tomatoes
- Multiple Maniacs: Genuine Trash an essay by Linda Yablonsky at the Criterion Collection
- 1970 films
- 1970 LGBTQ-related films
- 1970 black comedy films
- 1970s crime comedy films
- 1970 independent films
- American black comedy films
- American black-and-white films
- American comedy films
- American crime comedy films
- American independent films
- Films about rape in the United States
- Films about cannibalism
- Films directed by John Waters
- Films set in Baltimore
- Films shot in Baltimore
- Lesbian-related films
- Drag (entertainment)-related films
- LGBTQ-related black comedy films
- 1970s English-language films
- 1970s American films
- Films about sideshow performers
- Films produced by John Waters
- Films with screenplays by John Waters
- American LGBTQ-related films
- LGBTQ-related crime comedy films
- Cross-dressing in American films
- English-language black comedy films
- English-language independent films
- English-language crime comedy films