Trash (1970) (AKA Andy Warhol's Trash)
Paul Morrissey made 8 films with
Andy Warhol's name above his own and of all of these
"Trash" is probably the most interesting and the most
entertaining. With Joe Dallesandro starring as "Joe,"
a heroin junkie who spends most of his time naked,
Morrissey found his most compelling character. Dallesandro
seems incredibly natural throughout the film even
when completely naked in front of men and women. He
actually shoots heroin on camera and then allows us
to watch him endure the high. He expresses honest
love and emotion as well as displaying passivity all
the while enduring ennui with the same casual abandonment
that makes him possibly the most beautiful man ever
to grace the silver screen.
Dallesandro is perfection here and
Morrissey uses him as a similar embodiment of thta
ideal. Throughout the film Joe is much like Christ.
He endures endless hardships and society's abuse only
to become a martyr. Now to say that Dallesandro, a
bi-sexual street hustler and junkie is a Christ figure
is quite a stretch but that is the image that is repeatedly
expressed throughout the film. He performs miracles
(shooting heroin directly into his vein) while unbelievers
watch. After he is euphoric and angelic they consistently
"ruin" his high by being the most irritating people
on the face of the planet. After he is forced to endure
his high (his purification) listening to them argue
and complain, they prod him into becomming their own
personal idea of what he should be. Everybody wants
to fuck him and use him but no one wants to let him
be himself, with the exception of his supposed lover
Holly (i.e. Mary Magdalene). When Joe can't or won't
perform the deeds they insist upon, they kick him
out and degrade him.
Holly, played by transvestite Holly
Woodlawn, is the other exceptional performer here.
She bitches wonderfully and then makes you care about
her in the same breath. As in most Warhol and Morrissey
films the real compelling, interesting women are played
by men. The actual females in the cast are usually
heartless bitches who care about no one but themselves.
This film is no exception to that rule.
The film opens with a shot of Dallesandro's
pimply butt as he is being blown (recieving oral sex)
by a female. We see him naked so often in this picture
that it becomes commonplace.
As in all of the early Warhol films
most of the dialogue is improvised although Morrissey
is credited as the writer. He also mans the camera
and directs the action. His camera work is beautifully
stunning cinema verite. But this isn't mock cinema
verite that attempts to be stylish. This is actual
hand-held camera filming that gives the film a documentary
feel. Although it seems hard to watch at times the
style implores us to watch every frame and we get
the feeling that we are behind closed doors here,
taken into a world that most people never get to see.
Morrissey finds beautiful pictures with simplistic
clarity in everyday situations.
In the 70's nudity was just becoming
commonplace in filmmaking and the early scenes here
seem like they border on pornography. But this film
isn't attempting to titillate. More than that it is
again taking us into another world, a world where
people are "stripped" for us to see. The women disrobe
trying to prove their worth to Dallesandro but he
is only interested in their purity and in his God
(Heroin). Dallesandro's nudity constantly reminds
us that he has nothing to hide because he is pure
even with his body full of heroin (God). Like a martyred
Christ, he has given up, giving his life over to heroin
so that we may have the benefit of his pureness in
the world.
Watch the scene where Joe gets high
with the rich, young, newlywed couple. This scene
is the most obvious example of the way the film portrays
Joe as a Christ figure. After he shoots up (stigmata)
he is paraded around the room like Christ being forced
to carry his own cross. Then he is kicked out into
the real world, naked and high (crucifixion). The
images in this scene, many shot from a high, angelic
position - like God watching, are beautiful and interesting.
Morrissey really makes his presence known here.
"Trash" works on so many levels.
It's comic and tragic as well as sexy and intellectual.
In the film Dallesandro sacrifices his libido so that
all of us can see his beauty and perfection. Woodlawn
makes us laugh and then makes us care about her even
though she is a caricature of a woman. She is more
like a gay man, desperate for love from a pure man
(Dallesandro) and willing to do anything, make any
sacrifice to attain and keep his love. But, like Mary
in "Jesus Christ Superstar," Holly doesn't know how
to love Joe.
"Trash" is about fringe, throwaway
people (like Christ and his disciples in their time)
who are martyrs for simplicity and purity. Every scene
elaborates upon this complex idea until the climatic,
hilarious end where Dallesandro and Woodlawn are abandoned
by society with only each other to turn to for love
and care. In Morrissey's moving, poignant world these
are the true heroes. This was, after all, 1970.
Note:
Also in the cast: Geri Miller, Bruce
Pecheur, Michael Sklar, Andrea "Whips" Feldman, Diane
Podel, and Jane Forth.
Edited by Jed Johnson, Warhol's
young "roommate" who would later direct Warhol's last
film, 1977's "Bad."
Viewed on VHS in 1993
