**possible spoilers**
After penning the screenplay for Larry Clark's controversial "Kids," Harmony Korine attracted instant notoriety before he was even out of his teens. It wasn't long before he negotiated a deal with the same producer to finance his own film as director. That film, known as "Gummo," attracted equal controversy in its own way--and is arguably even more grotesque in content. There is next to no plot to speak of. It's a group of loose vignettes about white trash in a crumbling, forgotten Ohio town (though it was actually filmed in Nashville). The film is intent on offending the sensitive viewer from the start, with a boy in a bunny hat urinating on traffic from a bridge. Two other boys hunt down cats to sell to the local supermarket. A man prostitutes his wife to local teens. A retarded girl runs around and sings for no apparent reason. Korine himself appears as a gay man making drunken advances at a dwarf. At the very end, there is an utterly disgusting scene that seems to have been put there simply for shock value. There's no point to any of this, and the more I think about it the more I am convinced that the filmmakers had no idea where they were going with the material. They seem to have thrown in these unpleasant things just to distract us from that fact. The film wanders aimlessly (like the characters), then it's just over.
I wonder what the actors thought of performing these scenes. Surely they didn't intend to make a bad film. They must have trusted the director to make sense of it all, but that may be an impossible task. Most of the performers are nonactors, as Korine intended to give the film a documentary-like feel. No problem there, but often he just sticks them in front of the camera and makes them act stupid. The most curious bit of casting must be Jacob Reynolds, as a very odd-looking teen with a short body and a long, oversized head. I'm not praising his performance or anything; he just stands out because he looks so weird. According to an interview, Korine cast him due to his performance in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial. His co-star, Nick Sutton, was selected after an appearance on "Sally Jesse Raphael" when he announced his glue-sniffing habits on national television. Judging from the film, the production crew seems to have been inspired to take up this habit. The only performer I remotely liked was Chloë Sevigny as a bored young woman, but I suspect she only agreed to appear in this thing because she was dating the director.
Very little in "Gummo" works, though the cinematography does have some merit. This must also be one of the most pretentious films I've seen. Korine claims to have been devising a new and improved form of filmmaking art. Does he really believe that, or is he just posturing to hide his lack of any real creative talent? I hope he's just inexperienced. Roger Ebert's positive review of his next film, "Julien Donkey-Boy," does suggest this. I'd like to think he can refine his techniques over time. If that is the case, I am willing to give him another chance. In the meantime, I'd recommend another film, "Boys Don't Cry." It had similar settings and characters--including one played by Chloë Sevigny--but it was a much more compelling film that offered genuine insight into its ill-fated characters. In contrast, "Gummo" fails to enlighten or inspire. Its creator would have you regard it as an "art film." And so it is. A bad art film. At least it tries to be something different and unique though.
*1/2 (out of ****)
Released by Fine Line Features
After penning the screenplay for Larry Clark's controversial "Kids," Harmony Korine attracted instant notoriety before he was even out of his teens. It wasn't long before he negotiated a deal with the same producer to finance his own film as director. That film, known as "Gummo," attracted equal controversy in its own way--and is arguably even more grotesque in content. There is next to no plot to speak of. It's a group of loose vignettes about white trash in a crumbling, forgotten Ohio town (though it was actually filmed in Nashville). The film is intent on offending the sensitive viewer from the start, with a boy in a bunny hat urinating on traffic from a bridge. Two other boys hunt down cats to sell to the local supermarket. A man prostitutes his wife to local teens. A retarded girl runs around and sings for no apparent reason. Korine himself appears as a gay man making drunken advances at a dwarf. At the very end, there is an utterly disgusting scene that seems to have been put there simply for shock value. There's no point to any of this, and the more I think about it the more I am convinced that the filmmakers had no idea where they were going with the material. They seem to have thrown in these unpleasant things just to distract us from that fact. The film wanders aimlessly (like the characters), then it's just over.
I wonder what the actors thought of performing these scenes. Surely they didn't intend to make a bad film. They must have trusted the director to make sense of it all, but that may be an impossible task. Most of the performers are nonactors, as Korine intended to give the film a documentary-like feel. No problem there, but often he just sticks them in front of the camera and makes them act stupid. The most curious bit of casting must be Jacob Reynolds, as a very odd-looking teen with a short body and a long, oversized head. I'm not praising his performance or anything; he just stands out because he looks so weird. According to an interview, Korine cast him due to his performance in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial. His co-star, Nick Sutton, was selected after an appearance on "Sally Jesse Raphael" when he announced his glue-sniffing habits on national television. Judging from the film, the production crew seems to have been inspired to take up this habit. The only performer I remotely liked was Chloë Sevigny as a bored young woman, but I suspect she only agreed to appear in this thing because she was dating the director.
Very little in "Gummo" works, though the cinematography does have some merit. This must also be one of the most pretentious films I've seen. Korine claims to have been devising a new and improved form of filmmaking art. Does he really believe that, or is he just posturing to hide his lack of any real creative talent? I hope he's just inexperienced. Roger Ebert's positive review of his next film, "Julien Donkey-Boy," does suggest this. I'd like to think he can refine his techniques over time. If that is the case, I am willing to give him another chance. In the meantime, I'd recommend another film, "Boys Don't Cry." It had similar settings and characters--including one played by Chloë Sevigny--but it was a much more compelling film that offered genuine insight into its ill-fated characters. In contrast, "Gummo" fails to enlighten or inspire. Its creator would have you regard it as an "art film." And so it is. A bad art film. At least it tries to be something different and unique though.
*1/2 (out of ****)
Released by Fine Line Features