A psychedelic ego trip, Give Me Pity! is a high-camp oddity that has the appearance and production values of a pirated 1980s VHS recording of a very public nervous breakdown. Writer-director Amanda Kramer’s kitsch exploration of fame lust will categorically not be for everyone.
It stars Sophie von Haselberg (daughter of Bette Midler) as showbiz trouper Sissy St Claire, a variety performer who has been given her very own TV special. She fills it with what she does best: song, dance, skits and self-celebration. To canned applause, Sissy compares herself to Jesus – they share, she claims, an iconic look and an unshakable commitment to “making it”. But the peppy sparkle of her stage persona starts to lose its shine as the show unravels.
Kramer’s vision is distinctive: playful and jarringly lurid. Give Me Pity! is a one-off – and that’s probably a good thing.
