Pure Shit
DVD release cover from 2010
Directed byBert Deling
Written byBert Deling
Anne Hetherington
Alison Hill
John Hooper
Ricky Kallend
John Laurie
David Shepherd
John Tulip
Bob Weis
Produced byBob Weis
StarringGarry Waddell
Anne Hetherington
Carol Porter
CinematographyTom Cowan
Edited byJohn Scott
Music byMartin Armiger
Red Symons
Production
company
Apogee Films
Release dates
15 August 1975 (Perth International Film Festival)
7 May 1976 (Australia)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetAU$28,000[1]

Pure Shit (censored as Pure S) is a 1975 Australian drama film directed by Bert Deling. When the film premiered at Melbourne’s Playbox in May 1976, the Vice Squad raided the theatre.[2] It was initially banned, then given an R certificate, and the title was changed from Pure Shit to Pure S.

Well let's face it, who isn't a little curious to see this film - banned then abandoned for a generation - about Carlton junkies in the mid-70s? Raided by vice-squad at its own premiere, this little underground film stayed that way longer than Ramos-Horta lived in hotel rooms. Its got it all: gritty intravenous realism, chase scenes, chemist break-ins, and excellent pre-fame cameos from Greig Pickhaver and Max Gillies. For all that, the scene-stealer is actually Helen Garner's hilarious appearance as a speed-addict, with advanced psychosis of the obsessive cleaning variety. There's even a social commentary poke at the earliest manifestations of the methadone program.

The low-budget film provoked a hostile reaction from the mainstream media on its initial release. This film is now considered an "underground" classic.[3]

Plot summary

A young woman dies of a heroin overdose. Four junkies who knew her commandeer her car and spend 24 hours searching the streets of Melbourne for good quality heroin, and excitement.

Cast

Production

The film's budget was partly provided by the Film, Radio and Television Board of the Australia Council and partly by the Buoyancy Foundation, an organisation to help drug takers.[1] Bert Deling says he was particularly influenced by Jean Renoir and Howard Hawks.[4]

Lead actor Garry Waddell says he helped with the script:

It was really good having Bert there because he helped me a lot. If you weren't sure of anything you could always get reassurance from him or the cameraman, Tom Cowan. It wasn't a hard movie to work on because it was so enjoyable. The relationships between people on the film were always good.[5]

Release

The Commonwealth film censors initially banned the movie but allowed it to be released with an "R" rating provided the title was changed from Pure Shit to Pure S.[1] Deling later said that the film "played two weeks at Melbourne’s Playbox and had a short Sydney run … but very few people got to see it, and we didn’t make a cent from it."[6] The movie was polarising, with the critic of the Herald calling it "the most evil film that I've ever seen"[7] but others such as Bob Ellis championing it.[4]

It was released on DVD in 2009.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p291
  2. ^ SBS Online Article by Peter Galvin A junkie film whose reputation precedes it
  3. ^ Australian screen; curator’s notes by Paul Byrnes
  4. ^ a b Luke Buckmaster, 'Interview with Bert Deling', Crikey, 5 June 2009 accessed 2 October 2012
  5. ^ "Garry Waddel", Cinema Papers, June-July 1976, p55
  6. ^ 'Deling, Bert - Pure Shit', Urban Cinefile, 14 May 2009 accessed 2 October 2012
  7. ^ David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p278


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