''Pure Shit'' (censored as ''Pure S'') is a 1975 Australian drama film directed by Bert Deling.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 R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irelan ...

, 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 commandeer her car and spend 24 hours searching the streets of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

for good quality heroin, and excitement.

Cast

* Gary Waddell 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 Tea ...

as Dr Wolf *Tim Robertson 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 first novel, '' Monkey Grip'', published in 1977, immediately established her as an original voice on the Aust ...

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

Greig Pickhaver Greig Pickhaver AM (born 1948) is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian satirical sports comedy duo ''Roy and HG'' as the excitable sports announcer H.G Nelson. The award-winning duo teamed up in 1986 for the Trip ...

as Record shop worker *Vicki Heal as Girl on Phone

Production

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

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as 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 announced in 1967 as the Austr ...

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

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

.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 writer, journalist, filmmaker, and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germa ...

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