Polyester (1981)
- Directed by
- John Waters
- Genre
- comedy drama
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 1h 26m
- Rated
- R
- Rating
- 7.0 of 10 from 192 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A suburban housewife's life spirals out of control as she deals with a cheating husband, a rebellious daughter, and a troublesome son. The movie plays out like a deliberately overdone soap opera with a comedic edge.
satiricalcampyover-the-topzanybitingprovocativetheatricalnostalgic
What happens
Polyester is a 1981 American satirical black comedy film written, produced, and directed by John Waters, and starring Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, David Samson, Mary Garlington, Ken King, Mink Stole, Joni Ruth White, and Stiv Bators. It satirizes the melodrama film genre and the "woman's film" category, particularly the work of Douglas Sirk, which directly influenced this film. The film is also a satire of suburban life in the early 1980s, involving topics such as divorce, abortion, adultery, alcoholism, racial stereotypes, foot fetishism, and the religious right. Polyester was filmed in Waters' native Baltimore, Maryland, like all of his previous films. It featured a gimmick called Odorama, whereby moviegoers could smell what they were viewing on-screen with special scratch-and-sniff cards (a stylistic tribute to the work of William Castle, whose films typically featured attention-grabbing gimmicks). Following Stunts (1977), Polyester was among the earliest films that New Line Cinema produced. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
The Four Seasons (1981)
S.O.B. (1981)
Sizzle (1981)
Only When I Laugh (1981)
Tulips (1981)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Madame X (1981)
Shock Treatment (1981)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.