Kids
(1995)
"Once
they got to know me better, the (skateboarding) kids
(in the park) told me no one uses condoms on a bet.
Safe sex for these guys was finding virgins, and to
hell with the girl. That's when I started thinking about
the movie." -Larry Clark
Anyone
who thinks that "Kids" isn't an accurate depiction of
reality is fucking fooling themselves.
Larry
Clark's' pseudo-documentary, outlined by scripter Harmony
Korine, is a harsh indictment of a society running amuck.
The kids in this film rarely resort to the actions of
what we think of as youthful. Notice that the two actions
we see in the film which we think of as being juvenile,
skateboarding and throwing water-balloons, are highly
skewed. The skateboarding in the film is mainly a spectator
sport on TV. When one boy does do it in reality, it
results in chaotic, violent mayhem. As for the water-balloons,
they are quickly abandoned for discussions about and
flirtations with sex and drugs. It's no accident that
the boy who is first shown throwing water-balloons,
Nick Lochman, is eventually queried about his likes
and dislikes regarding pussy before he has his naked
chest kissed in a rather unsophisticated manner by a
female (while he giggles uncontrollable). He then supplies
the joint that is shared by 4 seeming 10 year olds as
they share a crowded love seat. No one in this film
is 10 years old, not in a normal sense, anyway.
Clark
creates a hyper-realism by joining documentary techniques
and seeming extemporary discussions with similarly filmed
party sequences. He adds a dramatic storyline, in the
form of an apparent outline, that is as bitter and as
harsh as any we've seen filmed lately.
"Kids"
begins with a long, sexual kiss between Telly (newcomer
Leo Fitzpatrick) and a young girl. She is so young,
so nubile and so pure that we are not surprised when
Telly's silly smooth talk easily seduces her. Before
long Telly is zipping up his fly, spitting on her parent's
belongings and out on the street discussing his actions
with his buddy Casper (Justin Pierce). Here Clark begins
his heightened realism by allowing the two to discuss
extemporaneously and filming their act of simply walking
down the street in a way that recalls many films of
the 70's, Throughout the film, one is reminded of Warhol.
This is sort of like Warhol: The Next Generation.
Telly
and Casper make their way to a party where whippets
are being inhaled and boys sit around discussing fucking
and women while in various stages of undress. Clark
juxtaposes this against a discussion by a similar group
of females, who are noticeably not high. The give-and-take
between the two separate conversations gives us a clear
insight into the theme of the film. Throughout the piece,
men and women (boys and girls, really) will look at
sex differently yet go about it in almost the same way.
It's no accident that the only one who really gets any
sex in the film is Telly and that is because he knows
how to talk shit; He knows how to seduce a female successfully.
The only other time sex occurs in the film is in the
form of a act that could easily be described as rape.
The rest of the film is filled with boys almost forcing
themselves upon girls. Eventually, everyone is allowed
to make out but nobody else really scores so successfully.
When Clark films a skinny dipping scene, again he has
Telly in a seductive mode while a 3 other boys do everything
in their power to force themselves on two girls. The
black youth in this scene is particularly forceful so
it comes as no surprise he gets nowhere with the females.
When the two girls show the boys that they prefer each
other to any of them, the boys are just as happy to
watch. The beg the girls to kiss for them repeatedly.
When the girls suggest that the boys have sex with each
as well, this is summarily dismissed. We begin to understand
that the boys in the film might be totally different
animals if they were allowed the freedom to express
themselves sexually with one and other. Instead, with
this taboo in place, and their youthful minds already
set, the boys are doomed to an existence of almost near
celibacy and adolescent sexual longing.
Since
the film is called "Kids," we don't see many adults
here. The main two, who are not mere whipping posts
for the kids, are Telly's mom and a taxi driver; One
representing home and (supposed) stability while the
other expresses freedom and mobility. Telly's mom has
a new baby of her own so we are left to assume she has
no time for it's older sibling. Telly takes out his
lack of attention on her by lying to her and stealing
money from her secret stash. The taxi driver, meanwhile,
tries to console Jeanie (Chloe Sevigny), one of Telly's
former conquests. But his compassion is also laced with
an underlying sexual quality. His fatherly concern consistently
brushed with strokes of lustful undercurrents. As for
the rest of the film, the parent's seem to be nonexistent.
They are either out of the house, allowing wild parties
to ensue, or simply out of frame, as when Telly calls
a new young girl out to be seduced from the street below.
She appears and spends the night with him without another
thought to any parental concern.
Clark
consistently surprises us with his full-frontal assault
on our morality and sensibilities. His kids not only
fuck and talk about fucking, they also steal, drink
(Pierce always has a 40, he drinks Kool-Aid using a
Kotex as a straw!), smoke, smoke dope, make out, get
AIDS tests, lie, front, score dope, commit acts of harsh
violence, hassle gays, rape and act as voyeurs. "Kids"
is an endless stream- of-consciousness that delves deep
into the territory that once was considered decadent,
even for adults.
Clark
also shows us the future with his wonderful sequence
involving the four 10-year old boys smoking a joint
on a couch. They are forced to be together in a small
piece of the world without adults, women or libido.
They talk about the narcotic but sex never enters into
the picture. It might be a little less disquieting if
it did, however. Still, Clark films them huddled together
and shirtless. Viewing them, we can't help but think
of their budding sexuality. These boys are at the starting
line, headed down the road as the other kids in the
film. They discuss Jesus briefly, the only mention of
spirituality at all in the film, as they continue to
smoke on the joint. One boy chides another for taking
big hits. Another claims he'd smoke dope all day long
if he could. This line is a familiar quote from those
experiencing drugs for the first time. It's bothersome
here because the boy is so young. Still, without any
fronting, the boys seem almost natural and playful.
They seem unafraid to be close to one another and even
touch each other slightly. These are the only characters
we truly see as "naked" before us. Everyone else is
trying to hide behind something.
The
end of "Kids" is it's most wondrous aspect. Korine and
Clark set up a plot for a potential hackneyed and explosive
climax and yet, just when we think the film is going
to have a certain message, it separates from this train
of thought and goes elsewhere into a new and frightening
territory. Like the end of Spike Lee's "School Daze,"
where a communal bell is wrong while a crier shouts
out, "Wake up!," Clark also sounds a similar bell. But
his tact is much more subdued. Clark shows us morning
arriving in the city. The crashed out kids sleep deep
in sprawled masses on the hard- wood floor, unconscious
from all their partying. Then we see Pierce awake on
a sofa. He looks at the camera, struggling to keep his
eyes open wide, and utters a devastating line, a poignant
reaction that touches us all. Clark's subtlety here
sweeps away all of the in-your-face filmmaking that
has come before it. Here, by drawing back and looking
at the clutter he (i.e. the world) has created and questioning
it, Clark makes us all question it as well. His film
ends with a whispered wake-up call. In the quiet of
the morning, we wonder if anyone else hears it.
Note:
One Executive Producer is Gus Van Sant. Director of
Photography is Eric Edwards.
Music by Lou Barlow (of Sebadoh) and John Davis. A song
from the soundtrack of Spike Lee's "Crooklyn" is used
in the film. Numerous Beastie Boy songs are used in
the film. The end credits song is "Spoiled" by Sebadoah.
Clark
insists that the dialogue is all scripted; "There's
not a word of improvisation!" he insists. Korine was
19 when he wrote the script.
The
end credits inform us that "A portion of the proceeds
from this film will be donated to teen crisis organizations."
Mirimax
was to release the film but since they are owned by
Disney and the film was to be rated NC-17 (Clark went
with no rating instead), they backed out. Mirimax's
co-chairmen Harvey and Bob Weinstein formed Shining
Excalibur pictures specifically to release the film.
The
video version I saw of the film had Cher appearing in
a PSA for the organization "Children of the Night" at
the beginning.
Clark
is a photographer. This is his first feature. He previously
directed a video for Chris Isaak. His four published
books of photographs are "Tulsa" (1971), "Teenage Lust"
(1983), "Larry Clark" (1992), and "The Perfect Childhood"
(1993).
Korine and Sevigny moved in together after filming.
Clark planned to film another Korine script called "Ken
Park" while Korine was set to film his script for "Gummo."
(Review
written in 1996)
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