Waters awarded the top honor of 2022 to François Ozon’s “Peter Von Kant,” calling the Rainer Werner Fassbinder-inspired feature “by far the best movie of the year” in a list shared with Artforum. “Fassbinder’s classic lesbian melodrama is appropriated and remade as a gay Frenchman’s love letter to the original version,” Waters wrote. “Hilariously stilted, often overwrought, but always highly entertaining, this cock-eyed tribute will make you swoon when Hanna Schygulla finally makes an appearance and Isabelle Adjani soon follows. My God, it’s just plain Douglas Sirk perfect.” Waters’ second pick, “EO” by Jerzy Skolimowski, is another “tribute film” with Waters calling it “Bresson’s ‘Au Hasard Balthazar’ meets ‘Old Yeller.’”
“Can a donkey remember? Just ask Isabelle Huppert, who pops up in this movie for no apparent reason except that she’s the best actress in the world,” Waters quipped. The “Pink Flamingos” auteur is confirmed to be writing and directing the adaptation of his novel “Liarmouth,” marking his first directorial effort in nearly 20 years since 2004’s “A Dirty Shame.” Waters also is embarking on a 20-city tour for the “John Waters Christmas Show,” which began November 29 in San Francisco. The infamously contrarian filmmaker capped off his top 10 list with Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All,” calling Timothée Chalamet’s character a “butch twink.” “Is there such a thing as a butch twink? Yes, there is, and Timothée Chalamet goes all Larry Clark on us here, a soft-trade hetero cannibal who kills an evil closeted gay trick so he and his flesh-eating girlfriend can feed,” Waters penned. “Is that gay-bashing or cannibally correct love? Just asking.” While Guadagnino has called “Bones and All” not a “shock-value” horror movie, Waters previously said that he prefers films that challenge the viewer. “The few times I’ve ever said anything negative it was about something that everyone else loved. Here’s what I hate: a movie where the audience goes ‘awww.’ If anybody goes ‘awww,’ I run,” Waters told The New York Times earlier this year. “I want to be disturbed. I want to be shaken. I don’t want to be patted on the back.” Check out Waters’ full list below to see his top 10 picks for 2022. 10. “Bones and All” 9. “Smoking Causes Coughing” 8. “Will-O’-the-Wisp” 7. “Dinner in America” 6. “Detainee 001” 5. “Bruno Reidal, Confessions of a Murderer” 4. “Sick of Myself” 3. “Everything Went Fine” 2. “EO”
- “Peter Von Kant” Read IndieWire’s John Waters interview from earlier this year here. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
