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by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
WHAT: Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea screening with director Chris Metzler
WHEN: June 17 @ 9:45 pm
WHERE: The Pit (406 Chelsea Street)
“Where success and failure collide and where utopia and the apocalypse meet to dance the dirty tango. It’s a special place, a bit closer than you might think, that draws a unique group of outsiders looking for an awfully beautiful life on the edge of a beautifully awful paradise.”
John Waters’ smarmy sarcastic voice narrates this actual documentary about an actual place, but the Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer “doc” is cleverly couched in a camp, mockumentary style. The stylish film is scored by the sultry surf guitar and Hawaiian twang of Friends of Dean Martinez, a Sub Pop band from Austin, Texas, which perfectly suits the story of “California’s version of the French Riveria.”
Located fifty miles south of Palm Springs, the residents of Imperial Valley are split on whether the Salton Sea is everything it was in the 60s, or a toxic wasteland. The film uses old filmstrips to show the glamorous visitors to the Salton Sea when it was a heaven in the desert. The fish were abundant and the shores were full of life in the middle of the last century, but now it is a salty, stagnant body of water surrounded by the skeletons of yacht clubs and the perpetually rotting corpses of dead fish, which die seasonally, adding to the smell.
Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea tells the history of this ecological anomaly, explaining how such an inefficient ecosystem could ever come to be, and the stories of the bizarre lot that lives around the Salton Sea. Some of them were ambitious real estate developers and some of them still believe the sea will have its day. Resident Petre Melvin still revels in her golden years on the Salton Sea through her cigarette-smogged rasp while the town codger, Goldman, calls it the best sewer in the world.
There are movies out there that defy genre and elude the mystique of your favorite stars. Movies that leave Hollywood behind to tell a story that is clever, revealing, disastrous and true. This film has more entertainment value than most blockbusters; it is rife with despair, hope and belly laughs that only this directorial presentation could have provided this truly tragic tale of loss and acceptance.
Normally, a film like this might come through town and you wouldn’t even know about it. As it turns out, this film has come through town before, but don’t make the same mistake we made last time and miss this film again. For one night only, this film will screen at Subterranean Cinema’s annual outdoor screening at The Pit. Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea is reason enough to plan your weekend around a local presentation, but on this weekend, that is only part of the reason to attend.
Seeing a film at The Pit is an increasingly rare opportunity in Jacksonville. If you are unfamiliar with the Brooklyn haunt, it is on the corner of Chelsea and Forest, between I-95 and Park Street. It was originally where Subterranean Cinema founder Tim Massett stored his collection of films and would occasionally screen the films for the then-hiding cinema scene in Jacksonville. He has since moved on to programming the Jacksonville Film Festival and presenting the midnight movies at the San Marco Theatre. He felt that Plagues & Pleasures deserved another screening at this unique event and called filmmaker Chris Metzler. Metzler will be joining the crowd at The Pit screening to discuss the film afterwards.
Remember to bring your own chairs (and any beverages you intend to consume) and $5 to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime presentation of a unique film in a unique setting for next-to-nothing. Take in a great flick and laugh with the filmmaker about the unofficial mayor of Bombay Beach, Hunky Daddy, after the presentation. For better directions and more information, visit subterraneancinema.com.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
