''Pure Shit'' (censored as ''Pure S'') is a 1975 Australian drama film directed by

Bert Deling Bert Deling is an Australian writer, script editor and director of film and TV best known for the cult classic ''Pure Shit'' (1975). Select Credits *'' Dalmas'' (1973) *''Pure Shit'' (1975) *'' Dead Easy'' (1982) *'' Keiron: The First Voyager'' ( ...

.Beryl Donaldson & John Langer, "Bert Deling", ''Cinema Papers'', April 1977 p 316-319, 377 When the film premiered at Melbourne's Playbox in May 1976, the Vice Squad raided the theatre. It was initially banned, then given an R certificate, and the title was changed from ''Pure Shit'' to ''Pure S''. The low-budget film provoked a hostile reaction from the mainstream media on its initial release. It is now considered an "underground" classic.

Plot summary

A young woman dies of a heroin overdose. Four junkies who knew her leave the share house to avoid police, and spend 24 hours searching the streets of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

for good quality

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

and excitement.

Cast

Gary Waddell Gary Waddell is an Australian actor. He was nominated for the 2012 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in ''The King is Dead!'' and for an AFI award for his role in 1975 film ''Pure Shit''. Filmography Television *''Old ...

as Lou *Ann Hetherington as Sandy *Carol Porter as Gerry *John Laurie as John *

Max Gillies Maxwell Irvine Gillies AM (born 16 November 1941) is an Australian actor and a founding member of the 1970s experimental theatre company, the Australian Performing Group. Early life and education Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Te ...

as Dr Wolf *

Tim Robertson Tim Robertson is an Australian actor and writer. Early life Robertson was born in 1944 in Braintree, Essex, in the UK. He relocated to Australia in 1952. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia (1965). After graduating, he ta ...

as TV interviewer *

Helen Garner Helen Garner (née Ford, born 7 November 1942) is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's debut novel, first novel, ''Monkey Grip (novel), Monkey Grip'', published in 1977, immediately established her ...

as Jo *Phil Motherwell *Russell Kirby as Shoplifter / TV Interviewee *

Greig Pickhaver Gordon Greig Pickhaver (born 10 February 1948) is an Australian actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the satirical sports comedy duo '' Roy and HG'' as the excitable sports announcer HG Nelson. The award-winning duo teamed up in 1 ...

as Record shop worker *Vicki Heal as Girl on Phone *

Jane Clifton Jane Clifton (born 10 April 1949) is a Gibraltar-born Australian actress, singer, writer and former radio and voice artist. She is best known for her role in TV serial ''Prisoner'' as tough prison bookie Margo Gaffney. As a singer, she had ...

as Party girl

Production

The film's budget was partly provided by the Film, Radio and Television Board of the

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

and partly by the Buoyancy Foundation, an organisation to help drug takers. Bert Deling says he was particularly influenced by

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

and

Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter of the Classical Hollywood cinema, classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American ...

.Luke Buckmaster, 'Interview with Bert Deling', ''Crikey'', 5 June 2009
Retrieved 2 October 2012 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.

Writer

has a small role as a speed-addled woman named Jo. Garner starred in the film shortly before she published '' Monkey Grip'' (1977), which is set in a similar milieu of communal drug use.

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''. 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."'Deling, Bert - Pure Shit', ''Urban Cinefile'', 14 May 2009
Retrieved 2 October 2012 The movie was polarising, with the critic of the ''

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...

'' calling it "the most evil film that I've ever seen"David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p278 but others such as

Bob Ellis Robert James Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016) was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, playwright, filmmaker, and political commentator. He lived in Sydney with author and screenwriter Anne Brooksbank; they had three children. Early ye ...

championing it. The film was released on DVD in 2009.

Accolades

References

External links

* *''Pure Shit'' at th
Australian screen''Pure S''
at Oz Movies
''Anne Hetherington''
-image of Anne Hetherington at 78 Curtain St, North Carlton {{DEFAULTSORT:Pure Shit 1975 films Australian drama films Films set in Melbourne Films shot in Melbourne Films about heroin addiction 1975 drama films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Bert Deling English-language drama films