Multiple Maniacs (1970)

[schlock]

I know it's doubtful, but it would be great if Criterion could offer both the matted and open-matte versions for this film (and other early Waters films if they can get them from WB/New Line). Although they may have been shown matted in theaters, especially Pink Flamingos and on, it appears Waters was composing for full-aperture when shooting his early films and not giving much thought to how it would eventually look in widescreen/matted, at least through Female Trouble. His very early films were originally mostly shown in underground locations, not regular theaters, so they were most likely projected full-aperture.

The New Line DVD's are all matted and there are crucial parts of the image missing because of that. In Female Trouble, e.g. when Dawn is stomping the presents, you barely see what she's stepping on. Even worse, while listening to Waters' audio commentary on that film, he was apparently viewing the full-aperture version while recording the commentary, because he mentions things that you don't see on the matted version on the disc but that he clearly wanted to be seen (Divine's butt-crack cleavage in the salon scene, and there's a slow pan-up scene of Edith Massey from her feet to her face, where the matting covers her shoes so it makes it look like the pan starts at her ankles instead - which no one would ever compose a shot that way, especially since Waters even talks about her shoes (that you don't see) in that shot on the commentary). Many other moments are cropped or very tight like that on the DVDs.

I originally saw PF and FT in the theater so they must have been matted and I just didn't know anything was off. But having seen the full-frame versions for years now, that aspect ratio looks way more correct. And if Arrow can give both aspect ratios for some early Herschell Gordon Lewis films where it looked like Lewis wasn't putting much thought into eventual matting, why not Waters?

I've only seen Multiple Maniacs and Mondo Trasho on the old VHS releases so I have no idea what a matted widescreen version will even look like, but a day-one purchase regardless.