Film

Gummo (1997)

Director: Harmony Korine

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This impressionistic portrait of a half-imaginary Midwestern suburb confirms Harmony (Kids) Korine as a creative force to be reckoned with. Be warned, however, it is often an unpleasant experience. When the two teenage boys at its centre aren't killing stray cats, they're sniffing glue, paying for sex or messing with life support machines. But for all the immature fixation on depravity, Korine's refusal to condemn or condescend to his characters saves the film from freak show voyeurism. Twisting from cinéma vérité to improvisation to pre-scripted lines, often within the same scene, he's audaciously upfront about his stratagems (his command of rhythm and pace is also quite brilliant). Problematic, troubling, dangerous even, but breathtakingly original, and absolutely true to the times. The cutting edge doesn't get any sharper than this.

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