1972’sPink Flamingosis not the first of writer-directorJohn Waters' films to be released as part of theCriterion Collection.
So how does Waters feel about his now 50-year-old trash classic joining the likes ofCitizen KaneandSeven Samuraiin the catalog?
“Yes, I’m thrilled.
Danny Mills and Divine in ‘Pink Flamingos’.Everett Collection
“That was always the end,” Waters says of the sequence.
“It was a publicity stunt, basically, and one that would frighten hippies.
Divine liked the idea of causing trouble.
The cast of ‘Pink Flamingos’ with director John Waters.Everett Collection
We were all potheads, so the idea made us laugh.
It worked and I won the contest.
I’ve never tried to top it since and no one has really.
John Waters.Daniele Venturelli/WireImage
Maybe Johnny Knoxville.”
Did Waters keep in touch with the dog?
“Yes, the dog came to the premiere,” says the director.
“Everything went crazy.
I had just been to the Manson trial.
It was one of the most insane times ever, so I think it reflected that culturally.”
“My parents did pay for it,” he says.
“I paid them back, with interest, and they never saw it.
They knew about it but they never saw it and why would I make them suffer throughPink Flamingos?
What parent would be proud their son madePink Flamingos?
Even today, it would be tough.”
That’s just what I did.
We had madeMultiple Maniacsthat had actually gotten some showing outside [Baltimore].
It played in Los Angeles, it played in Boston, Philadelphia.
So we did have some luck with that.”
“That was just me thinking on pot,” he says.
“I wasn’t being cruel or evil or Manson-esque.
When she said, ‘What are we going to do about that?’
I said, ‘We’ll throw a bucket of water over you when we say cut.
She said no.”
The film was released by New Line Cinema, which distributed barf bags to audiences.
“Well, that was a ripped-off idea,” says Waters.
“It was originally done withMark of the Devil, the horror movie.
New Line thought up that idea, which I thought was fine.
Did anyone ever use it?
I think most people kept the bag as swag.
The Criterion one is awfully little.
It would be like an anorexic puke.
Maybe it’s for a model.”
According to the director, the movie is still banned in Hicksville, Long Island.
“I never won [obscenity cases],” he says.
“Because at midnight,Pink Flamingosis joyous, it’s exciting, the audience love it.
It’s all about geography.
And I do believe Pink Flamingos may have played in Hicksville.
A half century on,Pink Flamingoscontinues to pack a deliriously deranged punch.
“The right person wins.
“Of courseit does,” he says.
I wish my parents were alive to see it.”
It’s perfect.”
The Criterion Collection release ofPink Flamingosis now available to buy.Watch a trailer for Waters’ film below.
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