>       Similar in style to *Kids*, *Gummo* is a cinema verite exercise in

> which a group of aimless white trash youths are paraded in front of

> the camera for all to gawk at.  While the 23-year old Korine claims

> that Jean-Luc Godard is his idol, the film implies that it may

> actually be P.T. Barnum, as it has dozens of distorted humans to look

> at, but nothing of much value to say.

 

I'm always interested when someone is said to respect or emulate Godard,

however it's always slightly disappointing.  While respected by Gus Van

Sant and Werner Herzog, I really can't take Harmony Korine seriously.

Perhaps he attributes his lack/hate of scripts and hate of actors to JLG,

but his talk of "mistake-ist cinema", where he gives everyone a camera,

lets them run loose, and fixes it in the editing room doesn't really seem

very promising.  However, if you like to torture cats, I recommend

"Gummo".

 

Jonathan

 

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