Kids

Horrorphile

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Kids

April 22nd 2008 05:06

I reviewed Kids (1995) early in 96 during its theatrical run in New Zealand. At the time I was resident film critic for an independent weekly newspaper called City Voice. My review heading was “Totally Fucked Up!” in big letters. I had convinced the editor to run with the profanity as it was integral to the film’s subject matter and was an important sub-text, albeit in your face. He ran with it.

When the movie came out it was considered pretty radical. An urban nightmare wake-up call for adults. I found it both disturbing and compelling. The pseudo-documentary look and feel of it, the use of non-professional actors in many of the roles, and the raw depiction of the adolescents’ attitude toward sex, these elements made Kids a very potent attack on any kind of moral complacency evident in adult audiences.

Watching the movie again twelve years later was interesting. The movie hasn’t changed, but my opinion of it has. The film’s “fuck you” attitude has softened considerably. It’s still a difficult film to deal with in that the lead male characters are obnoxious and objectionable. Their arrogance still permeates the movie. But the movie feels much more contrived than when I first watched it. It feels engineered to annoy.

Supposedly director Larry Clark stuck closely to the screenplay which was written by Harmony Korine (18 at the time he penned it), even though much of the action and over-lapping dialogue feels improvised. Some scenes smack of a kind of deliberate button-pushing, in order to provoke outrage in the audience. Telling it like it is? Twelve years on, I’m not entirely sold. There are some which feel genuinely insightful, while others just seem over-the-top and unnecessary, such as an ugly lynching of a hood in a crowded city park, and the party rape at film’s end. Perhaps director Clark simply wanted to highlight the perpetuation of social diseases such as brutal random violence and non-consensual sex?

Justin Pierce as Casper and Leo Fitzpatrick as Telly

Kids was before the reality television epidemic, but looking at the way it was filmed and directed I know in this current climate of amateur porn and DIY street drama Kids would’ve been more interesting and arguably would enjoy a longer shelf life as a curio had it been a real documentary rather than the rambling, incidental, dystopian drama it was made as.

Chloe Sevigny as Jennie

The “plot” follows teenager Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) and Casper (Justin Pierce, who committed suicide aged 25, five years after making the movie) a couple of mischievous wannabe Lotharios. Telly loves to ball virgins, and it’s his careless amoral attitude toward sex which bookends the movie as a voice-over. He and Casper roam the streets of Manhattan drinking and carousing and generally acting like a couple of dicks.

Rosario Dawson as Ruby

Teenagers Jennie (Chloe Sevigny) and her friend Ruby (Rosario Dawson) after chin-wagging about sex all afternoon with other girlfriends go to have a HIV-blood test. Jennie has had one sexual partner, Telly, whereas Ruby admits to around nine or so. Then in a darkly ironic twist Ruby’s results are clean, but Jennie has tested positive. She is dumbstruck and in a state of grief-stricken panic abandons Ruby in order to search out Telly before he infects any more girls.

The rest of the movie alternates between Telly and Casper fooling around, including robbing a convenience store, a detailed rolling of a large Philly blunt in Washington Square Park, the aforementioned lynching, and ending up at a debauched house party, and Jennie getting fucked up on pills and trying to find moments of escape (like floating around Tunnel nightclub). Jennie eventually finds her way to the house party only to walk in on Telly humping away on young Darcy (Yakira Peguero) barely in her teens. She falls into a deeper funk and passes out on the sofa only to have Casper take advantage of her dark slumber and rape her amidst numerous comatose bodies lying prone from excessive partying.

The art of rolling a Philly blunt of skunk

Cut to Telly and nubile zonked out on bed and Telly’s voiceover stating matter-of-factly that without sex life has no purpose for him, cut to Casper sitting naked on couch, awakening and staring blearily into the camera and muttering, “Jesus Christ! What happened?” It's a curious way to finish the movie, yet it carried more weight when I first saw it. Now it feels frustratingly tenuous at best. As if Larry Clark is avoiding any responsibility.

Kids Leo Fitzpatrick and Sarah Henderson

Telly in film's icky opening scene with Girl #1 (Sarah Henderson)

Bad parenting, you betcha! Kids is a modern sociological nightmare, but it’s power to shock has diminished with time, only because we are inundated with so many real life stories of moral degradation, ethical corruption and adolescent apathy, that the “fictionalised” account of Kids now seems trite.

The best things about Kids are Eric Edwards vibrant cinematography, the debut performances of Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson, and the original jangly guitar work of grunge legend Lou Barlow and John Davis.

I haven’t seen Ken Park, but I’ve seen Bully. Larry Clark is a talented director, but Kids isn’t the classic date stamp I thought it might end up as (and it'll put you off pashing for a while ...)

Here's the theatrical trailer;

And just to be contentious here's the blunt rolling scene:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

16 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

April 22nd 2008 06:23

Was Ken Park Banned or was it something else?

I am not a fan of film that are low budget and try to shock or push the boundaries. They seem to date quickly and only have a following from middle aged hippies trying to recapture their defining moments in life. Yet when the shock value is gone many of these movies really suck.

Comment by Bryn

April 22nd 2008 07:43

Horrorphile

Damo, yeah Ken Park was banned. Margaret Pomeranz organised a private screening for Media in Balmain, and police got a tip off and busted the session. I'd like to see the movie (I abhor censorship), but trying to order the DVD from overseas runs the risk of having it seized at customs.

Comment by Jason King

April 22nd 2008 07:56

Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness

I bought Ken Park because I really wanted to watch. U can get copies on Ebay - the version I got came from Asia and while a proper quality dvd it had the blurry pixel patches they love over any private parts. LOL. It is a junior to Kids - trying for similar themes but Kids did it all before. This is more small town suburbia. If any of you are in Sydney - I don't mind posting as a lend. The end will fit your banner of Totally Fucked Up. Nice read above - thanks heaps for writing.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 22nd 2008 12:14

Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train

hey great review!

rosario dawson and chloe sevigny are easily the coolest american women in film these days, its interesting that they both got their break in the same film!

Comment by JohnDoe

April 23rd 2008 00:24

Film & TV on DVD

Hi Bryn,

I was very impressed with Kids at the cinema and have eagerly awaited a DVD release....your review makes it even more paramount I revisit the film in hindsight....for the record Bully is Larry Clark's best work IMO and still leaves me in awe after viewing.

Comment by tlcorbin

April 23rd 2008 00:35

Are you having second thoughts Bryn?

Raven

Comment by Undercover Brother

April 23rd 2008 01:59

Justin Pierce (Casper) killed himself a few years ago.

I met him once, he was a good guy and a great skater.
RIP

Comment by Bryn

April 23rd 2008 03:04

Horrorphile

Raven,
that's the beauty of watching movies ... they don't change, but you do.

Undercover Brother, yeah I discovered that when checking the cast list ... Shame, he had potential. I wonder why he did it?

Comment by Eccie83

June 21st 2008 11:51

I would be forever greatful if anyone in sydney would be willing to lend me a copy of ken park, you can reach me on eccie1@hotmail.com

Comment by Bryn

June 23rd 2008 02:55

Horrorphile

Eccie83 ... let me know if you get hold of a copy.

Comment by Anonymous

October 14th 2010 02:32

I really enjoyed this review, despite the terrible grammar here and there.

Justin Pierce (Casper) killed himself because he found his wife cheating on him with a really close friend.

I still enjoy movie, albeit I do know and understand all the flaws. I'm just taking it at face value. It was brilliantly done even if the acting was a little shoddy sometimes and the entire linear process was questionable.

Still. It's a pretty good film, worth recommending for that shock value. It had some good themes too. It makes me think, and I like that.

Comment by Bryn

October 14th 2010 03:30

Horrorphile

Anon, cheers for the compliment, but where exactly was the so-called "terrible grammar". I know I can be prone to the odd typo. I strive to make as few mistakes as possible, but since I'm my own sub-editor, some can slip through the net. Can you please be specific, as I read through it again, and couldn't find any, but then again, I'm not a copywriter, nor an English teacher, just a humble blogger

Comment by Anonymous

October 19th 2010 03:38

It was something I noticed while reading. I don't feel like doing it again. I'm sorry! I'm not trying to be rude. If it makes you feel any better, I did say "here and there." This must mean it wasn't all over the place. They probably were typos?

In the comment you've just made in response to me does have one major error. End quotations are always after punctuations.

I don't mean to be a grammar Nazi. I'm not perfect either. It's just hard to seem educated and legit when blatant mistakes are in my face.

Still an awesome review though.

Comment by Bryn

October 19th 2010 04:05

Horrorphile

It's a difficult job sub-editing your own writing. You'd be surprised how many mistakes you can miss. You're the first person to mention it. So either my thousands of other daily readers are being awful polite about it, or it really isn't that "blatant" or "terrible" ... But thanks again for bringing it up, I guess I need to tighten my belt, and keep my eyes peeled a little more raw. I'm glad at least the intent wasn't hampered.

Comment by Anonymous

October 25th 2010 03:14

I don't really see a thousand comments on this particular thread. The large majority (based on reading all of them the first time) don't seem likely to complain about grammar/spelling errors. So, I don't really see your point, if you were being subtle in such a sardonic comment. I'm not trying to provoke a flame/argument.
I did say I only noticed few errors and that they were probably simple typos.
I get that it must be tough to sub-edit your own work. So forget everything I said except for the compliment. It really was an awesome review.

Comment by Bryn

October 25th 2010 04:31

Horrorphile

I'm not looking for an argument either

... I was probably feeling sensitive over the fact that I hate typos and grammar errors and know that they can slip through the net when you're acting as your own editor ... But cheers for the compliment!