Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (2006)

John Waters is used to dealing with odd characters in his often off-kilter films. It is very easy to imagine him directing one of his unusual movies at this fascinating location. The Salton Sea residents seem to have adapted to the fact that the areas recreational greatness may be only faded memories. Monumental fish kills and hundreds of dying birds, are testament to the ecological disaster which has become the current way of life. Water's interviews reveal the necessary adaptation made by most of the people who continue to live there. Whether the Salton Sea can ever be returned to it's past glory, is conjectural at best, but hope springs eternal in the small population of quirky characters living along the Salton Sea. - MERK

It seems appropriate as houses are falling in value all over due to sub-prime loans and speculation to look at another area that fell victim.The Salton Sea was formed by the Colorado River to create Imperial Valley. In the Fifties, it was a resort area with great Tilapia fishing, boating, swimming, skiing, etc. But two big storms in the Seventies flooded the are, and they have been plagued with other problems, and all the speculation is gone.Now, there is a community of very interesting individuals: a seventy-year-old man who stands completely naked by the highway, an artist who is creating some kind of holy mountain, lots of minorities that have escaped the dangers of LA, and older whites who have been there from the beginning.If you can stand a die off of 7 million fish or bird botulism, it really looks like a place to escape to. In any case, it is another unique part of American that most people have never heard of.

I really enjoy a good documentary. They are difficult to find. Most documentaries are riddled with uninteresting information or oppressive influence, be it personal or political. Rarely does a documentary inform us about an intriguing subject while avoiding a political message. While Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea does not completely avoid its environmental message, but at least it doesn't force the issue on the viewer. The film wants to enlighten its viewers about the Salton Sea and its ecological importance.As I mentioned earlier, this film is very funny, perhaps even more so than the recent Hot Fuzz. Several of the people living on the Salton Sea are kooky, to say the least. One of them is a painter who wants to build a monument to Jesus and usually does it nude or partially nude. Another is a veteran of the Hungarian Revolution who curses and slurs whenever he is addressed. Yet another is an elderly smoker whose voice is so raspy that it is difficult to comprehend.We know that people like this exist, but we don't think of them frequently. Therefore, interviewing them for a film is genius. It not only gives the film a human element, but a real comedic feel too. The documentary is also amusing in its approach to the ecological issues it address. It tells us how local birds die (due to poisoning) by interviewing disgruntled government workers who collect bird corpses. It address the area's former prominence by noting all the popular places that are now flooded. This is very effective in keeping our attention. The fact that I wrote this review almost two weeks after I saw the film yet remember so much of it should point to how effective the film is.Anyone interested in environmental issues in California should watch this film. It's also a good choice for teenagers because it is informative and amusing. I would love to see more documentaries take this approach but many, sadly, do not. Please watch this film; it is one of the most memorable documentaries that you'll see for a long time.

This is a great film that highlights the wonder and hart-break of the people that inhabit this great California dream-scape. In this film (narated by legendary film maker John Waters) the story unfolds in interviews by the people that inhabit this strange land, some raving about it's wonder, some panning this ecological disaster, but all of them true, on target and with the utmost sincerity. The film does not flinch away from controversy, and gives a balanced picture of the current population and activity of the area. Some of the interviews are truly funny while others are heartbreaking. Any attempt to explain what is really up at the Salton Sea would not be simple since there are people who really love it, and people that have been ruined and brought down by the lack of intervention in the decline of this ounce great "California Riviara" But the film seccedes beautifully in showing the Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea fro every angle. It is a brilliant documentary!!!!