Post by StevePulaski on Jun 12, 2012 21:53:22 GMT -5
Leo Fitzpatrick and Sarah Henderson.
Rating: ★★★½
So many scenes in Larry Clark's Kids are immoral and reprehensible that naming them all would eventually birth a list. The film, itself, is a remarkable piece, but the dialog in it is harsh, degrading, yet such a common standard today that it sadly seems like the norm. Filmed and released in 1995, it was certainly ahead of its time, and it's safe to say that things haven't gotten any better for society.
Consistent readers will know that I love films with sharp, inviting social commentary on our world. I recently awarded three and a half stars to Bobcat Goldthwait's remarkably sharp film God Bless America, about a man and a young girl taking a loaded gun to things they have a disdain for in the world, such as empty-headed celebrities and hate-spreading political commentators. I awarded the same amount of stars to Falling Down, with Michael Douglas, another brilliantly crafted exercise providing a stern lecture on the arrogance of our world. And now, here is Kids, which comes straight out of left field for me. It is a poignantly made picture chronicling the lives of societal degenerates as they hopelessly wander the streets of New York City, unaccompanied and unprotected from the grittiness that lies ahead.
Our "protagonist" is sixteen year old Telly (Fitzpatrick). The film opens with him kissing a twelve year old girl, and it eventually leads to sex after Telly forces the reluctant youth. He gives her the "I care about you" spiel, as he desperately wants to be the one to take her virginity. The inevitable happens, and afterwards, he meets his pal Casper (Justin Pierce) outside where he heartlessly discusses, in explicit detail, sex with the youth. Words fly to the viewer like bullets in a shootout, and we see the two casually walk up the city block, where they talk loud, shout obscenities, maybe shoplift a bottle of malt liquor, etc. Casper tells Telly that if he were to die tomorrow, he'd be remembered by the girls whose virginity he took for fifty plus years.
Kids follows their footsteps in a "day in the life" kind of fashion. The two go to a drug-dealer's house, have a few hits off a joint, go to a party, get drunk, force each other to answer uncomfortable questions, etc, all in a parent-less, soulless environment. The subplot involves a group of girls, where the film decides to focus on two of them. One of them is HIV negative Ruby (Rosario Dawson in a stunningly offbeat role), who has had sex eight times. The other is HIV positive Jenny (Chloë Sevigny); she had sex once, with Telly. Jenny is sickened with anger and sadness, and drearily plods her way through the day at nightclubs and contemplates what will come of her future with this mishap.
The film paints a tragic portrait of American youth. What's worse is the ignorance from parents. Telly stops quickly at his decrepit apartment to steal cash from his mother, kick his cat, and continue to take advantage of his life in a relentless fashion. What spawned such shocking behavior? Most likely years of careless parenting and neglect. His parents, we only see his mother, are hopelessly ignorant towards the fact their son is the degenerate from hell, having sex with young girls for temporary gratification. They ask no questions, possibly because they fear such answers. A shallow, yet common, example of parenting.
What a remarkably sad picture this is. What an extremely well written one it is as well. Coming from someone still in school, a lot of it has been heard from me, yet thankfully not endured. It was penned by Harmony Korine, who also made a film I vow to never see. If the film proves anything, it proves that kids need to be taught to formulate an understanding of vital things such as art, philosophy, politics, and film itself. They need to be shown such mediums in order for sustainable growth to occur. My grandmother brought up a point about the vastly growing unemployment rate in America recently, and I think it's one that fits perfectly with this film; "how do you expect to have a thriving country when you have louses inhabiting it?"
Starring: Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, and Rosario Dawson. Directed by: Larry Clark.