Kids

[OGpistolpete]

So one of my co-workers is really big on movies, and gave me his copy of a DVD called "Kids". I had never heard of the movie, but he said it was amazing, and boy was he right. It was funny, because I was with one of my friends, and right before I put it in, he was freaking out, talking about how good of a movie it was but no one had seen it.

I was pretty much blown away. The camera angles and style was so original, as if I were actually watching these kids live their lives but without being in the way. Some of the scenes were difficult to watch, specifically the kids finishing off the black guy they beat up at the park with the skateboard to the face, and the end of the movie, which itself warrants the movie its previous NC-17 rating.

Overall I loved it, as it was pretty eye-opening. I knew life was like this in the inner-city, but to the extent to which it was portrayed was really gritty, but well done. It also makes me realize how lucky I am to have grown-up in the suburbs where activity like in the movie is almost unheard of.

The ending was a little fucked up though.

Opinions? By the way, if you don't know what I'm talking about, here is the wiki page.

[Docpepper]

I finally tracked down the dvd last year. my first time watching is was years ago on cinemax I believe and I liked it a lot. but after watching it again it's a really good movie. I bought this and bully in a dvd double pack.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Ooh, Bully's good. I still haven't seen Kids yet though.

[RoyWill Rumble]

You might wanna add spoilers. You revealed a pretty big part of the movie.

Anyway, it's a great movie and more people ought to watch it.

[Gazz]

I remember watching this years ago at about 2am on channel 4 and been blown away. It took me ages to track it down on DVD. Great film, very gritty and unsettling, if you liked this I would recommend 'Kidulthood' and 'Thirteen' too. It's quite weird watching it recently and seeing a very young Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson in it.

[slain]

Larry Clark's stuff seems to be really good, albeit slightly disturbing. I agree with the recommendation for Thirteen. Also check out Gummo if you can find it. It deals with kids/teens in a small hick town. It's quite a moving film.

[Docpepper]

Gummo freaked me the fuck out. I stopped watching half way through. Thirteen is bad ass Holly Hunter,Evan Rachel Wood,and Nikki Reed enough said.

[Emperor Fuckshit]

I saw it a few months ago and thought that it was pretty good.

The problem is that a lot of the debate around the film centres upon whether or not it's a "realistic" portrayal of New York in the 1990s. That kind of becomes a necessity, since I don't think the specificities of the plot really have much to commend them by themselves, and the characters appear basically to be intentionally synecdochic of the social climate that has created them. Also, the fact that a lot of the criticism of the film referenced its supposed celebration of depravity encouraged the counter-arguments to be phrased in a "yes, well real life is depraved" sort of way.

As a person who has spent all of his life in working-/lower-middle-class Britain, how am I supposed to judge the extent of the film's "realism"? It seems to me that a lot of critics who defended the film along those lines were ill-placed to make such a judgment, but basically meant "realistic" to mean "grittier than It's A Wonderful Life".

I just get the sense that Korine's main aim as a writer is to shock the squares. He has managed to create genuinely surreal and touching landscapes, as in Gummo. And I don't think he's in any sense talentless. But when his films are brought back essentially to the real world, they lose their oneiric quality and become significantly more boring. Ken Park is kind of the apex of that.

But Kids isn't Ken Park -- it's obviously better than that. Its images of urbanity and the uncomfortable sense of unbearable proximity that pervades the film kind of ensure that. And at least Korine can, via reference to the 1990s Aids scare, claim that he was to some extent making reference to material social conditions. Rather than just writing some film about a bunch of cunts I don't care about, per Ken Park.

e: There's also the fact that a bunch of critics expressed their distaste for Kids at the time by denouncing it as "child porn". So that in itself kind of proves that there was something for Korine to rail against -- presenting children of that age as sexualised subjects obviously met with some significant resistance from within the audience. This also means that it's difficult to dislike the film without aligning oneself with a bunch of retards.

Edited October 29, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[Liam]

I watched it, liked it, but all I remember is the guy with no legs on the subway.

'I have no legs! I have no legs!'

Or something to that tune >_>

[Gazz]

I watched it, liked it, but all I remember is the guy with no legs on the subway.

'I have no legs! I have no legs!'

Or something to that tune >_>

Do you not remember the weird dancing kid with the dude with the accordian?

[Vamp]

I had to watch this in media along with Thirteen and Brick as a way of studying how teens are represented in the media, it was an experiance. Personally, I wouldn't have chosen to watch this film, and why people would hunt it down for a second viewing (unless studdying it for its technique of gritty presentation) is kind of beyond me. Not that I dislike films that challenge us, that's not it at all. I love films that entertain, and I love films that make you think "fuck" and challenge you. Alfie's difficult viewing at the end, being pro-abortionist as I am, but I love it for it, Kids, I don't love it.

Its not for me to dispute whether the action that takes place in this film is realistic or not, since I don't know much about the inner city in New York in the 90's. I won't dispute that what happened in the film couldn't have happened, even in suburban England I've seen things or heard of things not a million miles away from this, but I would question whether its an entirely accurate or fair portrayal of the city at that period. But then, why should it be?

It does create strong emotions, it does make one feel like they're living in a box somewhat, and it was bloody disturbing. Which is intention and therefore it does a good job. But for me its just too bleak to say that I'd enjoy the film. I mentioned Alfieearlier with its bleak ending but its got a message there, an optimistic message. It isn't, abortion is murder, its more don't do abortion, its more about presenting it as a bad choice, but a choice. This film doesn't really have that kind of message. It just says, god the inner city is fucked up. Which it is, but its not presented a choice, its not suggesting that there's any way of fixing that, because by and large, there isn't.

I'd question how people like it. More in the sense that I don't think its truely possible to like the film, and I don't think its meant to be liked. I think its a film that can be respected though. But if people do believe they like it, then I suppose they do. And more power to them.

As for Thirteen, I didn't care for it at all. But that's more because at that point I was so sick of hearing about the plights of women that I just thought "oh fuck off" all the way through it. Seriosuly in that year of study all I pretty much learnt is that its tough to be a woman, and that's hard to relate to when you're born in a world where that's not so true or prominent anymore. Plus I found vast bits of it to be rather boring. It was interesting the way that, and I've long since forgotten any names, 5that bad girl who led the nicer one astray seemed to be presented as an "other". Almost like an "alien" in an adult sci-fi, or a disease or something.

Unfortunately, for me, these films don't help the image of youths in anyway at all. I'm a big believer, working with children and working with people younger than me who had social or personal problems and found some sense of salvation through a unofficial of sorts school project, that youths certainly in the western world are treated in an appaling way. There's a great deal of prejudice against them in the way they are presented in the media, and these films, even if they do help expose the problems youths face, don't really help matters.

[Draevyn]

Haven't seen this one. I've seen Thirteen. I only knew this existed because of Eminem's Guilty Conscience song.

[VerbalPuke]

I watched it, liked it, but all I remember is the guy with no legs on the subway.

'I have no legs! I have no legs!'

Or something to that tune >_>

Heh...

I enjoyed the movie, I've seen it a few times and would probably buy it if I saw it at a cheap price. Chloe Sevigny was pretty cute in the movie.

[HailtotheYo]

wow, i'm old ... I remember this from "back in the day" ... sheesh, with the cult level of love that this board has I'd have figured this one would have been old news

definately some eye raising and opening scenes/storylines in this one. Very good flick