Pure Shit

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 for good quality heroin and excitement.

• Gary Waddell as Lou
• Ann Hetherington as Sandy
• Carol Porter as Gerry
• John Laurie as John
• Max Gillies as Dr Wolf
• Tim Robertson as TV interviewer
• Helen Garner as Jo
• Phil Motherwell
• Russell Kirby as Shoplifter / TV Interviewee
• Greig Pickhaver as Record shop worker
• Vicki Heal as Girl on Phone
• Jane Clifton as Party girl

The film's budget was partly provided by the Film, Radio and Television Board of the Australia Council 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.[http://blogs.crikey.com.au/cinetology/2009/06/05/interview-with-bert-deling-writerdirector-of-pure-shit/ 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."Garry Waddel", Cinema Papers, June–July 1976, p55

Writer Helen Garner 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.{{cite web|url=https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/pure-s/clip1/|title=Pure S (1975) clip 1 on ASO|work=National Film and Sound Archive|access-date=26 December 2017}}

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."[http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=15726&s=interviews 'Deling, Bert - Pure Shit', Urban Cinefile, 14 May 2009]. Retrieved 2 October 2012 The movie was polarising, with the critic of the Herald 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 championing it.

The film was released on DVD in 2009.

• Cinema of Australia

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |editor-last=Murray |editor-first=Scott |title=Australian Cinema |publisher= Allen & Unwin/AFC |location= St.Leonards, NSW. |year=1994 |page=288 |isbn= 1-86373-311-6 }}

• {{IMDb title|0075111|title=Pure S}}
• Pure Shit at the [http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/pure-s/ Australian screen]
• [http://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/pure-s Pure S] at Oz Movies
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/7849945@N02/12111230746/in/photolist-iLLUDp-nCRmTQ-jsedXd Anne Hetherington] -image of Anne Hetherington at 78 Curtain St, North Carlton

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pure Shit}}

Category:1975 films

Category:Australian drama films

Category:Films set in Melbourne

Category:Films shot in Melbourne

Category:Films about heroin addiction

Category:1975 drama films

Category:1970s English-language films

Category:Films directed by Bert Deling

Category:English-language drama films