Thursday, April 14, 2011

Young Islands DVD

(Gulcher) What I hate about every one of the "mumblecore" films that I've seen is that despite being no budget/underground-ish they almost always seem to just be a cheap version of something commercial, with the humor being hackish and the sex or edge or youth-element being manipulatively titillating.  Director/writer Kevin Chenault's Young Islands is a film following a kid who seems relatively OK, other than the bedwetting, glue huffing, bi-curiosity, a hooker hook up, a crumbling family, and an ass kicking. Despite all the action of the previous sentence what makes this film legit is how mundane and straightforward it presents shitty, small town life. The semi-pro acting, the evocative black and white photogrpahy, and the soundtrack (in which poignant ambient sound is occasionally jarred by Gulcher slipping in some Gizmos action) should be a model about how to approach independent, underground, non-commercial film. And how to huff glue.

No comments:

Post a Comment