Polyester

A black comedy set in suburban Baltimore. Francine Fishpaw lives in a comfortable house. Her husband runs a cinema showing pornographic films and collects the hatred of the neighbourhood; her daughter skips school, her son is accused of attacking women's feet, her mother comes for money. Francine drinks. When her husband leaves with his secretary the household falls apart completely. Then a man named Todd Tomorrow enters her life and everything looks as though it will be fine. What the film is known for is how it was shown. Numbered cards were handed out to the audience; when a number appeared on screen the viewer scratched that part of the card and smelled it. The system was called Odorama and not all the smells were pleasant. This was made with a larger budget and wider distribution than John Waters's earlier films, meaning he made a picture that could reach most cinemas for the first time. Divine plays Francine. Tab Hunter, a young star of the 1950s, plays Todd Tomorrow; that pairing is part of the joke. John Waters directed. Exactly right for anyone who likes comedy that uses bad taste on purpose and the independent cinema of the 1980s. Before you watch, know this: the film proceeds by imitating the patterns of melodrama and its humour is deliberately tasteless.