Grindhouse Weekly – ‘Female Trouble’

I knew it would only be a matter of time before I discussed a John Waters film on this feature, so I figured now with the new documentary I Am Divine hitting theaters it would be a good idea to dive right into the world of Waters.  When discussing his filmography the first films that come to mind are probably Hair Spray or Pink Flamingos and although I may be revisiting the latter sometime in the future, I wanted to check out one of his films that I haven’t seen.  With that in mind I gave 1974’s Female Trouble a watch, and while it might not be as horrific as Pink Flamingos, this is still a movie you can’t unsee.

Female Trouble follows the life of Dawn Davenport, played by the incomparable Divine.  The film starts in 1960, where we see Dawn as a rebellious teen and we follow her all the way to the end of her life.  Her life certainly sees some highs and lows, but one thing is consistent throughout and that’s how incredibly disgusting and trashy she and the people around her are.

Like Waters’ previous and future films, this is a movie that revels in its high level of trash.  Gross people, gross sets, gross everything.  At stated previously, you won’t see any shit eating in this one, but that’s certainly not a bad thing.

Though it’s like Flamingos on a stylistic level, it’s a very fundamentally different film. It’s more cohesive and presents a much more traditional way of storytelling.  Waters was improving as a filmmaker and this movie is the proof. That isn’t to say Pink Flamingos isn’t a great piece of cult cinema, but watching it feels more like an exercise in endurance rather than an actual movie. I’m also sure that was the intent of the film.  Female Trouble has a very different intent, but it is still gratuitous and disturbing.

One of the more peculiar scenes that comes to mind near the first act of the film there is a sort-of rape involving Divine in drag having sex with Divine as a man.  This encounter results in the birth of a child who is later played by Mink Stole.  So Divine impregnated herself with Mink Stole.

This film was released at nearly the pinnacle of Divine’s career and although Divine the character was incredibly different from Glen Milstead the actor, it was clearly a movie made for Divine and only Divine.  Her outrageous antics and extreme vanity were front and center throughout the entire runtime and she completely owned the screen.

Female Trouble might not be John Waters’ most commercially successful films, but no one really care about that anyway.  This movie is Water through and through and should not be missed. After seeing it, I feel ashamed that it took me this long to give it a watch.  If you’re looking for some great trash cinema that doesn’t involve shit eating or gaping buttholes, check this one out.