Madame Wang’s

Paul Morrissey – 1981 – USA

Very odd (even for director Paul Morrissey) film set in Los Angeles following the adventures of a masochistic East German refugee named Lutz (Patrick Shoene) who swims ashore and immediately gets mixed up in the L.A. underground, especially its burgeoning punk scene.  Lutz marvels at these peoples’ tales of life in America, which seems to be dominated by fast food, swap meets and general apathy.  It’s a theme and premise that Morrissey was preoccupied with throughout his career – from Flesh (1968) to Spike of Bensonhurst (1988), where good-looking layabouts are poked and prodded into eventually arriving at some sort of feeling about life.  The production values appear even more meager than in Morrissey’s earliest films for Andy Warhol, though it’s hard to imagine that the budget could actually be less.  But this rawness is also the film’s charm – and along with a completely unknown and unprofessional cast – creates the unique and squalid atmosphere that Morrissey was after.