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| Courtesy of Annapurna |
My
diabolical side wishes I could’ve seen an opening night showing of Spring
Breakers, the latest project from eccentric filmmaker Harmony Korine (Mister
Lonely). I’m guessing that’s when the auditorium was been packed with drooling
creepers who thought they were about to see some skin from former Disney
starlets Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) and Vanessa Hudgens (High
School Musical).
Spoiler
alert: they keep their clothes on. Instead, moviegoers who don’t do their
research are treated to an avant-garde treatise on a beloved-yet-disconcerting
aspect of youth culture: spring break. If Girls Gone Wild and The Tree of
Life mated, Spring Breakers would be their bikini-clad, cornrowed offspring.
Korine’s
film will prove divisive even if you know what to expect going in. He deconstructs
the idea of teenagers making yearly pilgrimages to the beach in order engage in
depraved acts while under the influence of various substances. Some will
observe his approach and find it fascinating; others will flee the theater in
disgust and despair. You’ll know which camp you fall into within five minutes.
The
plot is simple, mostly because it’s just there to communicate the grotesquely
beautiful sounds and images of a ritual devoted to debauchery. Brit (Ashley
Benson), Candy (Hudgens) and Cotty (Rachel Korine, the writer-director’s wife)
are college girls who’ve never been outside of their small town. Desperate to take
part in spring break, the trio robs a local diner with hammers and squirt guns to
get the cash they need.
They
drag along Faith (Gomez), their more reserved friend, and proceed to partake in
the most orgiastic revelry this side of Caligula. Pretty soon, they’re arrested
and thrown in jail, only to be bailed out by a rapper/thug who calls himself
Alien (James Franco). He considers them to be his soul mates and proceeds to
take them down an even darker path. What happens isn’t pretty, but it sure is intriguing.
Clearly, Spring Breakers isn’t for everyone. The non-linear narrative will be off-putting
to some, and many will find the content downright repugnant. But if you like cinema
to challenge you and take you out of your comfort zone, Korine’s film will
certainly accomplish that. Almost a week later, it’s still bouncing around in
my head.
The
filmmaker’s unique choices in respect to visuals, music and repetitive dialogue
are compelling, particularly the use of “spring break forever!” as a phrase
that slowly morphs into a mantra for the doomed characters. The actresses are
solid, but it’s evident Korine cast most of them because of their previous
connections to kiddie fare. It makes their behavior in the film much more
jarring, which is the point.
But
the main reason to see Spring Breakers is Franco’s brilliant performance. He deserves
an Oscar nomination for his work here. (Stop laughing – I’m serious.) Alien
seems like a caricature at first, but by the end of the film he’s almost
endearing. Get ready to hear people quoting his monologue about material
possessions for the next few years.
Spring Breakers is rated
R for strong sexual content, language, nudity, drug use and violence throughout.
Grade:
B+
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