Polyester Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Polyester Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 19, 2019

John Waters' "Polyester" (1981) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include newly recovered deleted scenes and alternate takes; archival promotional materials; new conversation with John Waters; archival interviews; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet/poster featuring an essay by Elena Gorfinkel and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

I am firmly in the camp of those who consider John Waters’ film Polyester insufferable. The concept behind it is actually intriguing -- a somewhat subversive, so-grotesque-that-it-ought-to-be-funny shaming of Suburbia -- but the ‘acting’ which is supposed to make it work is for the most part simply a whole lot of amateur overreacting. So, it does not work for me.

Somewhere in suburban Baltimore the middle-aged ‘housewife’ Francine Fishpaw (Divine) makes a shocking discovery -- her husband, Elmer (David Samson), is cheating on her with his secretary, Sandra Sullivan (Mink Stole), and is ready to cut her loose. Francine immediately goes berserk and then hits the bottle to numb the pain and silence the voices in her head that are driving her insane. But instead of getting some temporary relief the heartbroken ‘housewife’ gets more bad news -- first her son Dexter (Ken King) is identified as the notorious Baltimore Stomper and promptly expelled from school, and then her daughter Lu-Lu (Mary Garlington) declares that she is pregnant and can’t wait to have an abortion. Now on the verge of a total nervous breakdown, Francine gathers the courage to enter an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) program where other on-the-way-back-to-recovery sufferers welcome her with open arms but immediately make her feel worse. It is when good old friend Cuddles (Edith Massey), who is refreshingly optimistic and slightly retarded, comes to the rescue, but her rambling also fails to stimulate Francine’s recovery. Eventually, an opportunity for some real and lasting relief emerges when Francine bumps into Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter), a somewhat emotionally available aging hunk, and he reveals willingness to start a meaningful relationship with her.

Polyester was Waters’ first big mainstream film and it is pretty clear how he was trying to make it appear more respectable and relevant than his previous efforts -- by copying the formula that Douglas Sirk utilized to deconstruct Suburbia and spice it up with so much grotesque material that the end product would begin to look legit. But it doesn’t. It is a big mishmash of awfully scripted and acted situations which fails in all of the key areas where it needs to impress so that it works as intended. Indeed, excluding just a few sequences where Divine goes into overdrive mode and some of her hysteria produces a few laughs everything else looks like a giant rehearsal session where random amateur actors are giving different improvisation techniques a shot. Needless to say, the rhythm of the acting is completely off and there is virtually no chemistry on display that can make the mayhem appear entertaining. Then there are the various jabs at socio-political and cultural issues that are supposed to legitimize the ugly which also end up producing caricatures of the worst kind -- tasteless, dull, and at times just flat-out disgusting. (Example: The pro-life activists that spot Lu-Lu after she tells Francine that she can barely wait to have an abortion are, predictably, a pack of angry animals that have gone mad). Hunter’s contribution to this film also could not have been any more disappointing. Simply put, there is nothing happening between him and Divine, and the harder they attempt to sell their ‘relationship’, the sadder the film becomes.

The final nail in the coffin is the visual style, which for obvious reasons imitates Sirk’s. Waters and cinematographer Dave Insley try to give the film a rich classic appearance but instead only manage to produce uneven splashes of garish colors that basically make the amateurish nature of the project even cheaper and tackier. This is what true cinematic kitsch looks like.

Polyester Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Waters' Polyester arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 16-bit 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative, and approved by director of photography Dave Insley. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, and small dirt. The monaural soundtrack was remastered from the original soundtrack negative and the DME magnetic track using Avid's Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.

Transfer supervisor: John Waters.
Colorist: Lee Kline/Criterion Post, New York."

Excluding a few darker sequences where some of the visuals can appear a tad 'loose' -- which some encoding optimizations would have easily addressed -- the rest of the film has the type of pleasing organic appearance that it needs to look impressive. I actually upscaled it to 4K and to be honest I was quite surprised at how gorgeous the visuals became. There are no traces of problematic digital adjustments. The color grading is particularly good and even in 1080p there are some rather striking nuances that pop up throughout the film, which would mean that in native 4K the makeover is probably a quite the stunner. Image stability is excellent. Finally, there are no distracting debris, stains, cuts, damage marks or other age-relate imperfections to report in our review.

Polyester Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless audio is clean, crisp, and stable. Michael Kamen's score helps some of the action rather well, but in terms of dynamic contrasts and overall intensity there isn't any memorable material. But these are the native qualities of the original soundtrack, and the lossless audio simply replicates them.

Polyester Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - an original trailer for Polyester. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• "No Smoking in This Theater" - an archival promo piece with with message from John Waters. In English, not subtitled.(1 min, 1080p).

• John Waters and Michael Musto - in this new conversation, John Waters and critic Michael Musto go down memory lane and discuss the conception of Polyester as well as its themes and visual appearance. The conversation was filmed exclusively for Criterion in 2019. In English, not subtitled. (38 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes - presented here is a collection of deleted scenes and alternate takes that were taken from original elements stored in John Waters' attic. They were scanned and prepared for use by Allen Perkins of Metropolis Post in New York City. In English, not subtitled. (21 min, 1080p).

• Sniffing Out "Polyester" - presented here is a selection of interviews which are outtakes from Jeffrey Schwarz's documentary I Am Divine. Amongst the interviewees are actors Tab Hunter Mink Stole, casting director Pat Moran, and art director Vincent Peranio. In English, not subtitled. (14 min, 1080p).

• Dreamland Memories - in this archival program, Tab Hunter, art director Vincent Peranio, costume designer Van Smith, abd casting director Pat Moran recall their involvement with Polyester. Also used in the program is an abundance of archival footage with John Waters and members of his troupe. The program was created for Criterion in 1993. In English, not subtitled. (23 min, 1080p).

• From the Archives - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. People Are Talking - a television clip with John Waters being interviewed during the making of Polyester. The clip aired on WJZ-TV in Baltimore in 1981 (5 min, 1080i).
  2. John Waters in Charm City - an archival promotional piece for Polyester featuring Divine and John Waters. It was shone on TV in 1981 (local programming). (8 min, 1080i).
  3. Edith: Queen of Feels Point - this profile of Dreamlander Edith Massey aired on WJZ-TV Baltimore's Evening Magazine in 1978. (7 min, 1080i).
  4. Tomorrow with Tom Snyder - an archival interview with John Waters and Divine discussing Polyester. The interview was conducted in 1981. (8 min, 1080i).

• Odorama with John - a short new piece about the original Odorama card and the copycats that came after it. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - this archival commentary featuring John Waters was recorded exclusively for Criterion in 1993.

• Leaflet/Poster - an illustrated leaflet featuring Elena Gorfinkel's essay "The Perils of Francine" and technical credits.

• Odorama Card -

Polyester Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even though there is an intriguing concept behind it, John Waters' first big commercial film, Polyester, is quite the disappointment. Excluding a few short sequences with a hysterical Divine -- seen here for the first time without heavy makeup -- the rest is instantly forgettable material that overflows with amateurish acting. I have never liked this film, and I did not change my opinion of it after revisiting it on Blu-ray. Criterion's release is sourced from a brand new and very handsome 4K restoration that was supervised by Waters and director of photography Dave Insley. I think that fans of the film will be quite pleased with the makeover.