Polyester

Director- John Waters

Starring – Divine, Tab Hunter

Country of Origin- U.S.

Distributor - Criterion

Number of Discs - 1

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 09/30/2019

   The films of John Waters have come to the Blu-ray format at a snails pace.  A number of years back we got a Blu-ray of Hairspray from Warner, but for years that was it. Now we appear to be getting classic era Waters at a rate of one per year from Criterion who have fortunately done stellar work with the films. They have done Multiple Maniacs and Female Trouble in prior years, but now they have gone to the film that showed Waters transition to a more mainstream direction, Polyester.

    Polyester stars Divine as Francine Fishpaw. Francine has a few problems, all relating to her family. Her husband runs a porn theater, and is cheating with his secretary, her son is a glue sniffer with a foot fetish, while her daughter is pregnant by a thieving punk rocker.  Francine begins to drink to help her deal, when she meets Todd Tomorrow played by Tab Hunter, and begins a whirlwind romance that changes her life.

    Polyester is John Waters at his most Douglas Sirk influenced. If one is a fan of the master of 50's melodramas like All That Heaven Allows and Magnificent Obsession, it is easy to see the influence trickle down to Waters' here. Of course, it blends while with his house style keeping campy and trashy humor alongside the sweetness of the romance.  The main performances by Divine and Tab Hunter are incredible, and they have fantastic on-screen chemistry.  The film is, of course, known for being shot in Odorama, a technique that had the influence of William Castle's sixties gimmicks. Audience members (And Blu-ray buyers) are given a scratch and sniff card to use throughout the film to smell the odors of Francine's life.

    Criterion presents Polyester in a 1:85:1 1080p transfer that preservers the OAR of the film.   Everything here looks great in the new 4k scan done by Criterion. Detail is excellent, colors are nicely reproduced, flesh tones are accurate.  Audio is handled by an LPCM mono track in English.  Extras include a commentary by Waters, an excellent 38 minute interview with Waters There is an excellent longform discussion between Waters and film critic Michael Musto, there are also a number of additional interviews, deleted scenes, trailers, and more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!