Trash (1970)
Year: 1968
Country: USA
Director: Paul Morrisey
Reviewed: April 2014
Country: USA
Director: Paul Morrisey
Reviewed: April 2014
After viewing Flesh, the first part of the ‘Morrisey’ trilogy, I was astonished by how provocative, challenging and thought-provoking the film ended up being, especially as I had expected something much more shallow. I thus approached Trash in a very different way. I was expecting a literary and challenging film with a somewhat obscure overarching theme that it was my job to search out. Except that this also turned out to be an inaccurate way to begin viewing, because Trash is a very different beast to Flesh. Often funnier and sometimes darker, than its predecessor, Trash’s story revolves around Joe (played by Dallesandro) and his drug addiction. Unable to ‘get it up’ or support his wife (played by the wonderful transsexual Holly Woodlawn), Joe goes about his daily life, generally looking off his face. It’s amazing to realise that Dallesandro wasn’t actually on drugs at the time, because he plays a junkie so realistically. Like the first film, he’s often frequently naked, but he’s less attractive in this film (part of the point) and I was desensitised to it, so it wasn’t as essential to my experience. What I found more interesting was how incredibly acted and interesting some of the scenes were. The first scene where Joe fails to get it up after a woman does a striptease is astonishing (also because it contains the incredible line, ‘if you’re sexy, you can be sexy doing anything. Sex is from the inside.’). There’s a scene where Joe OD’s in front of a rich newlywed couple who proceed to break up apart at the seams. However, it is Holly who steals the show from Joe. Be it seducing young boys or pleasuring herself with a bottle (because Joe is so useless), she’s just an incredible actress. Later scenes which show her arguing with Joe after she catches him with her sister (where she makes a really valid and sympathetic argument) and challenging a welfare officer show her true dramatic skill. In fact, the latter scene is probably the greatest of the whole film. Joe and Holly are trying to get on welfare by having a fake pregnancy. The welfare officer comes to their house and says that they probably would get it if Joe was in a rehab program. He, however, then states that he’ll grant their welfare if Holly gives him her shoes (he wants to make a lamp out of them). Joe says to just give up the shoes, but Holly refuses because it’s all she has. Because she’s been forced to go through trash cans and take what no-one else wanted, forced to the edge of society and now someone wants to take it from her, so she makes a stand. It’s a great scene, an example of strong and likable characterisation paired with a truly hateful character in the officer who ends the scene by telling them that they are nothing, that they’re worthless, that they’re just trash. And you get this melancholy feeling that part of them knows that he’s right, they are the dregs of society, but they’re making the best of the situation and that’s what matters. This film has often been billed as an anti-drug comedy, but I would argue that it transcends this to become a truly fascinating ode to the true outcasts of society. So, I suppose it was a bit like Flesh. I underestimated it, with only later reflection demonstrating how truly great it was. So, it may not be as good as Flesh but it is still far more thought-provoking and challenging than 90% of cinema. And for that it deserves an incredible amount of credit.
Best Scene: Holly stands up to the welfare officer
Verdict: 10
Verdict: 10