This is one of those films you actually have to want to see, and I think it deserves a repeat viewing. Having said that, Gummo is definitely not the kind of film you'd sit down and watch with the girlfriend.
Basically, it consists of disjointed vignettes of life in a tornado- devastated hick town. The characters can best be described as white trash. Our two central characters go around killing cats and selling them to a guy who's going to ensure the felines end up in fast food, among other activities. These two boys resemble Beavis and Butt-Head, but with more nihilism and existential pointlessness. The scenes of chair-wrestling rednecks and a waifish boy wearing only floppy rabbit ears, shorts and tennis shoes add some sort of bleak hopelessness to the film as we also get glimpses into porch conversations that have an un- scripted feel to them. Overall, this film isn't easy to watch but is somehow strangely compelling and examines poverty, boredom and pointless small town existence without either romanticising or offering any hope for the future.
Basically, it consists of disjointed vignettes of life in a tornado- devastated hick town. The characters can best be described as white trash. Our two central characters go around killing cats and selling them to a guy who's going to ensure the felines end up in fast food, among other activities. These two boys resemble Beavis and Butt-Head, but with more nihilism and existential pointlessness. The scenes of chair-wrestling rednecks and a waifish boy wearing only floppy rabbit ears, shorts and tennis shoes add some sort of bleak hopelessness to the film as we also get glimpses into porch conversations that have an un- scripted feel to them. Overall, this film isn't easy to watch but is somehow strangely compelling and examines poverty, boredom and pointless small town existence without either romanticising or offering any hope for the future.