There are very few films of sublime bad taste."Female Trouble" transcends even that.The moment Divine asks "Who wants to die for Art?", and after somebody from the audience stands up, says yes, and Divine starts shooting, something really unnerving happens: we pass from fierce satire - and as satire goes, the confines of the social - to the realm of the unconditional. We are not back into Breton's old surrealist adage "a surreal act is to get out and start shooting people", with its haughty, bourgeois accent, but in a new territory that challenges even that! I still cannot fathom this shifting of gears which exposes our pretensions, if not our infection; John Waters is accustomed in making categories collapse, and oppositions fall into each other, but this is unprecedented and followed by an assault that ends up in picturing Divine as a preposterous conversion of Dreyer's "Joan of Arc"! I would put this gem in the rare American tradition which starts with Gertrude Stein's Ida, a bizarre writing about the modernistic sainthood of fame and its vicissitudes. John Waters and his Divine saint make that miracle happen again: a sublime collusion between fame and shame, saint and quaint, and somehow a cry for affection.

Female Trouble is John Waters' follow up to his breakthrough hit Pink Flamingos and anyone that saw that movie will know exactly what to expect. With this film, Waters delivers yet more bad taste and trashiness; although it's slightly higher quality than the earlier film was and the plot has some extra depth. I think a viewer's opinion on John Waters will largely depend on what exactly they want from movies and thus this is not a film for everyone...and it didn't do much for me. The lead character is Dawn Davenport, a spoilt schoolgirl that wants a pair of cha-cha heels from her parents for Christmas. She doesn't get what she wants, so the brat decides to run away from home, ends up having an illegitimate child and gets involved with a couple of photographers that like to photograph women during acts of crime because that, apparently, is sexy. Davenport eventually makes something of a name for herself; but her fame comes at a price and she ends up on the run from the cops.This film does have more depth than Pink Flamingos; but it's still all about style. No matter what you think of the film itself, you have to take your hat off to Waters for the style of the film, which is completely bizarre and unique. The set design and costumes are completely over the top and this compliments the absurd and disgusting humour well. It's obvious that this film was made on a very low budget; and Waters clearly couldn't afford any good actors. The film does benefit from the presence of Divine, however; the trashy transvestite who delivers another unforgettable performance as Waters' leading 'lady'. The film takes a turn for the surreal on several occasions and Waters adds in plenty of social satire; some of which works (but most of which doesn't go anywhere). The film doesn't pull any punches, and although it is less disgusting than the earlier effort; there's still plenty to make the audience vomit. The structure of the film holds it together well until the ending and Waters does at least tell a story. Anyone that enjoys this sort of stuff will no doubt be in heaven with this trash-fest...but I doubt I'll ever see it again.

I am at a complete loss to understand why this film was not nominated for an Oscar for costuming, makeup and set decoration. It had the most outrageous costuming that I have ever seen. The sets were so hideous that they made me nauseous. The makeup was beyond belief.That was the good things about the film that featured an outrageous star in Divine, a transvestite that played Dawn Davenport. He was so over the top that I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.This is the first John Waters (Hairspray, Pecker) film that I have seen. He is definitely on the cutting edge in outrageous humor, horror, and satire.This film on the outrageous cult of celebrity is no more outrageous than the current obsession in the media with Paris Hilton.If you haven't seen a John Waters film, check out the Sundance Channel for this one.

I just looked through the reviews and the last one begins with the line "I seen this movie. . . ." and then goes on to call it the worst movie ever made and asks why, why was it ever made. Uh, friend? This movie was about YOU.Let's face it. There are some unfortunate people in this world. These are the people who are completely befuddled by a line like "I'll have two chicken breasts, please." The poor things. We know they'll never get it, there is no hope. If you know somebody who didn't like this movie--for whatever reason--drop them. They're not the kind of people you want to hang with.I was lucky enough to see Female Trouble when it was first released. It's hard to communicate how joyous an occasion it was. Finally, someone was making movies for US. Who was US? All the people in the theater laughing and cheering.There are so many quotable lines. Practically every line in the film--even out of context-- conveys its joy and lunacy. For years a friend and I quoted a line back to each other at appropriate times: "Yes I did, and I'm proud of it!" The line is delivered by Divine at her trial when she is asked if she killed her daughter. Pick any line at random; you'll find it will be appropriate to use SOME time during your life....I personally like this movie best of Waters' work. There is something profound about it, a quality few satires possess. I'm glad IFC is running this film so that younger versions of US can see and appreciate this movie, and know that they are not alone.