Dec '15 *
Trash cinema comes in many forms. Funny, shocking, confusing, offensive, scary. And then there's Gummo, which, I guess, is a mixture of all that, and also, just plain pointless. But hey. Not all movies need a point to be entertaining, or to gain a cult following. A fact which makes writer/director, Harmony Korine a very lucky man. Because, even after watching his masterpiece (?), I'm still not convinced this guy has all that much talent. But he does have some pretty unique shit going on in his head. And above all, that's what Gummo is. Whether it's a good movie or not is debatable, but let's just go with unique at the moment.
About a town full of backwards, hateful fucks who have simply given up on ever being anything. A bad tornado hit this town some years ago, and things were seemingly never fully restored. Ignorant, aimless and bored, these hateful fucks love killing and torturing cats, running their mouths about bullshit, fucking retards and just hanging around and being trash. Some of them get in fights with chairs. Some of them even win. Hell, some of them enjoy eating spaghetti whilst getting their hair washed. But I don't think any of them are very happy people. And they'd probably prefer to live somewhere else, but are too lazy and stupid to take the steps to do so.
The movie seems to revolve mostly around some ugly little pussy kid who's probably an asshole, yet, we don't get very many examples of this. The kid pumps iron, using handfuls of spoons, and apparentluy needs his mother to bath him. There's also some other little weirdo kid, wearing a pink bunny hat, and wandering around in his own little world. I'm not sure what he symbolizes, if anything, but like everyone else, he's just there, existing. Despite everything I've said so far in this paragraph, There's something very real about this movie. And surreal at the same time. It almost comes off as some kind of bleak documentary about a small town full of trash, where a bunch of stuff happens.
As a lifelong cat lover, I find it hard to watch a cat get hurt or killed, even in a movie. But strangely, I see the treatment of felines in Gummo as somewhat fitting for the characters, as they just naturally feel the need to bully and destroy the only thing they see as beneath them. Adding to this perfect portrayal of hateful, pathetic trash.
After despising the abomination that is Spring Breakers, I thought I'd give Harmony Korine one more chance to prove himself not a talentless piece of shit. And much to my surprise, I'm glad I did. I think I actually get Gummo, and even have an appreciation for it. However, I could easily see someone hating this as much as I hated the obnoxious Spring Breakers, because one thing Gummo (and Spring Breakers as well) is not is a likable movie. Seemingly no story, with just a bunch of random scenes put together, showcasing these hopeless citizens and their attempts at killing time and, I guess, having fun. But if you look a little closer, it's clear that these people's behavior tells the story. oud and clear. And it's not a pretty one. Of course, this is not the most entertaining movie I've ever seen, but I'll give Korine one thing. Gummo is far more entertaining than it should be. 6/10
Trash cinema comes in many forms. Funny, shocking, confusing, offensive, scary. And then there's Gummo, which, I guess, is a mixture of all that, and also, just plain pointless. But hey. Not all movies need a point to be entertaining, or to gain a cult following. A fact which makes writer/director, Harmony Korine a very lucky man. Because, even after watching his masterpiece (?), I'm still not convinced this guy has all that much talent. But he does have some pretty unique shit going on in his head. And above all, that's what Gummo is. Whether it's a good movie or not is debatable, but let's just go with unique at the moment.
About a town full of backwards, hateful fucks who have simply given up on ever being anything. A bad tornado hit this town some years ago, and things were seemingly never fully restored. Ignorant, aimless and bored, these hateful fucks love killing and torturing cats, running their mouths about bullshit, fucking retards and just hanging around and being trash. Some of them get in fights with chairs. Some of them even win. Hell, some of them enjoy eating spaghetti whilst getting their hair washed. But I don't think any of them are very happy people. And they'd probably prefer to live somewhere else, but are too lazy and stupid to take the steps to do so.
The movie seems to revolve mostly around some ugly little pussy kid who's probably an asshole, yet, we don't get very many examples of this. The kid pumps iron, using handfuls of spoons, and apparentluy needs his mother to bath him. There's also some other little weirdo kid, wearing a pink bunny hat, and wandering around in his own little world. I'm not sure what he symbolizes, if anything, but like everyone else, he's just there, existing. Despite everything I've said so far in this paragraph, There's something very real about this movie. And surreal at the same time. It almost comes off as some kind of bleak documentary about a small town full of trash, where a bunch of stuff happens.
As a lifelong cat lover, I find it hard to watch a cat get hurt or killed, even in a movie. But strangely, I see the treatment of felines in Gummo as somewhat fitting for the characters, as they just naturally feel the need to bully and destroy the only thing they see as beneath them. Adding to this perfect portrayal of hateful, pathetic trash.
After despising the abomination that is Spring Breakers, I thought I'd give Harmony Korine one more chance to prove himself not a talentless piece of shit. And much to my surprise, I'm glad I did. I think I actually get Gummo, and even have an appreciation for it. However, I could easily see someone hating this as much as I hated the obnoxious Spring Breakers, because one thing Gummo (and Spring Breakers as well) is not is a likable movie. Seemingly no story, with just a bunch of random scenes put together, showcasing these hopeless citizens and their attempts at killing time and, I guess, having fun. But if you look a little closer, it's clear that these people's behavior tells the story. oud and clear. And it's not a pretty one. Of course, this is not the most entertaining movie I've ever seen, but I'll give Korine one thing. Gummo is far more entertaining than it should be. 6/10
His next film "Julian Donkey-Boy" is about a retard (played by the versatile Ewen Bremner) is worth checking out if you liked Gummo enough. It's still random, and has a strange dirty filter over the movie the whole time, but it has famous director Werner Herrzog playing a half-crazed father of our main family, and he's a hoot. You get to see him drink out of a shoe. He agreed to be of the film after watching Gummo and seeing a piece of bacon taped to the wall. He then deemed Harmony Korine a genius and wanted to be in this movie.
I've seen all of his films leading up to Spring Breakers, and I normally wouldn't have cared to see the movie, but as a fan of his, I wanted to see how far he's come since Gummo. I wanted to see his first venture into quasi-mainstream, from no-name white trash idiots, to Disney stars and James Franco (who I didn't like as an actor before seeing the movie, but now I love him). Yes, wholesome Disney actresses, and Korine managed to turn them into pothead robbers who do coke and kill a lot of people. How cool is that? Are ya jacked up on Jesus? I am!