Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea
Encyclopedia
Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea is a documentary
by filmmakers Chris Metzler
and Jeff Springer, with narration by John Waters
and music by Friends of Dean Martinez
.
This offbeat and often humorous documentary tells the story of the accidental lake and environmental catastrophe known as the Salton Sea, located in the desert of Southern California, USA.
Once known as the “California Riviera”, the Salton Sea
is now called one of America’s worst ecological disasters: a fetid, stagnant, salty lake, that coughs up dead fish and birds by the thousands in frequent die-offs that occur. However, amongst the ruins of this man-made mistake, a few remaining eccentrics (a roadside nudist, a religious folk artist, a Hungarian revolutionary, and real estate speculators) struggle to keep a remodeled version of the original Salton Sea dream alive.
The film shares these people's stories and their difficulties in keeping their unique community alive, as the nearby cities of Los Angeles and San Diego attempt to take the agricultural water run-off that barely sustains the Salton Sea.
The film ultimately explores the historical, economic, political, and environmental issues that face the Salton Sea, but does so in a personal manner where you get to know the people who have chosen to live in what they see as a surreal paradise.
. With the addition of John Waters
as the film’s narrator, the new version of the film premiered at the Provincetown International Film Festival
, in Provincetown, Massachusetts, hosted by Mr. Waters himself. The film opened in select theaters on February 24, 2006 and continued to screen theatrically throughout the United States and Canada until late 2007.
A shorter, more environmentally themed version of the film aired on the Sundance Channel's GREEN programming block, along with occasional broadcasts on the PBS TV station KQED documentary series Truly, CA.
The DVD of Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea was released by the home video distributor, Docurama/New Video, on September 25, 2007.
certified the film as "Fresh," reporting that 96% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 46 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 72 out of 100, based on 8 reviews. In screening at more than 200 festivals in twenty countries, Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea won 35 awards for Best Documentary.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by filmmakers Chris Metzler
Chris Metzler
After graduating from USC with a degree in business and cinema, Chris’ film career has taken him from agency work, to coordinating post-production for American movies seen late at night in Belgium....
and Jeff Springer, with narration by John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
and music by Friends of Dean Martinez
Friends of Dean Martinez
Friends of Dean Martinez is an instrumental rock/post-rock band featuring members of Giant Sand, Calexico, and Naked Prey. FoDM music may be described as a combination of americana tunes with bits of electronica, ambient, lounge, psychedelia and dub intertwined with surf rock inspired lead...
.
This offbeat and often humorous documentary tells the story of the accidental lake and environmental catastrophe known as the Salton Sea, located in the desert of Southern California, USA.
Once known as the “California Riviera”, the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
is now called one of America’s worst ecological disasters: a fetid, stagnant, salty lake, that coughs up dead fish and birds by the thousands in frequent die-offs that occur. However, amongst the ruins of this man-made mistake, a few remaining eccentrics (a roadside nudist, a religious folk artist, a Hungarian revolutionary, and real estate speculators) struggle to keep a remodeled version of the original Salton Sea dream alive.
The film shares these people's stories and their difficulties in keeping their unique community alive, as the nearby cities of Los Angeles and San Diego attempt to take the agricultural water run-off that barely sustains the Salton Sea.
The film ultimately explores the historical, economic, political, and environmental issues that face the Salton Sea, but does so in a personal manner where you get to know the people who have chosen to live in what they see as a surreal paradise.
Release
The film premiered at the 2004 Slamdance Film FestivalSlamdance Film Festival
As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent in the film industry; it is also the only major film festival fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the...
. With the addition of John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
as the film’s narrator, the new version of the film premiered at the Provincetown International Film Festival
Provincetown International Film Festival
The Provincetown International Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1999 and held in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The festival presents a wide array of American and international narrative features, documentaries and short films for five days in June of each year.With panel...
, in Provincetown, Massachusetts, hosted by Mr. Waters himself. The film opened in select theaters on February 24, 2006 and continued to screen theatrically throughout the United States and Canada until late 2007.
A shorter, more environmentally themed version of the film aired on the Sundance Channel's GREEN programming block, along with occasional broadcasts on the PBS TV station KQED documentary series Truly, CA.
The DVD of Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea was released by the home video distributor, Docurama/New Video, on September 25, 2007.
Critical reception
The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
certified the film as "Fresh," reporting that 96% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 46 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 72 out of 100, based on 8 reviews. In screening at more than 200 festivals in twenty countries, Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea won 35 awards for Best Documentary.