05/01/06 Gummo

Gummo (1997), directed by Harmony Korine

watched solo; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home; suggested by Andrew S.

OK. My friend Andrew suggested this film, and based on our lengthy film discussions/debates in college, I at least respect is love of cinema and all its unique genre-benders. So, this is one on the top of a list that he's been recommending to me for years now to see. Why not give it a chance?! I'm up for something completely a departure from the norm. Maybe I spoke too soon, or too freely at least. This is to say the least a strange film, and to say the most I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that it sucked horribly. Sorry Andrew. I understand that director Korine was trying to reach a new style of guerilla filmmaking that is low-key and realist, where he jettisoned any hint of a narrative plot and constructed random interspliced clips of grainy still shots, overdubbed poetry ramblings, and characters so real & twisted that you couldn't even dream them up. So there, mission accomplished buddy. I have just have a problem with the fact that these type of shockingly fresh directors (see Larry Clark of "Kids" fame, or anything Todd Solondz does) just try to cram as many completely messed up individuals and disturbing thematic elements into a film just to be artsy. No matter how "real" they are getting, it's a bit overkill. The story is based in the small town of Xenia, OH (yeah, a real place sandwiched between Cincinnati and Columbus) that has suffered terrible tornadoes and the inhabitants have had hard times coping over the years. Their nihilistic tendencies come through in the forms of our two teenage anti-heroes Solomon & Tummler who among many things...torture cats, huff glue, have sex with mentally handicapped ladies, listen to death metal, and ride their dirt bikes everywhere. Oh yeah, and there's a teenage transvestite, sisters who train to be strippers (Chloe Sevigny, oh the potential wasted here just because your boyfriend is the auteur), bodybuilding dwarf, mute kid who runs around town wearing rabbit ears, and racist bare-chested idiots who wrestle their dining room chairs. Hey, it's just nice to see that rednecks & inbreeding happen anywhere in the U.S., not just the South. I was beginning to worry.

1 out of 5 stars