Spring Breakers has been making it's waves since the release in March
of this year. I finally got my hands on it and I can honestly say that
it gave me more than I expected. This is my first Harmony Korine film.
As much as I like this movie, I have never had any desire to watch Gummo
or Trash Humpers. After seeing Spring Breakers, I will continue to
watch his films from now on. This is not a perfect film, but what it
does, it does well.
I am not one for spilling the entire plot because you can read a summary anywhere. In a nutshell, this film is about four girls who want to go on spring break and once arriving they get arrested at a party. After the judge sentences them with fines and two days in lock-up, they get their bail paid early by Jame's Franco's Alien. When I watched the many previews for this film, I was ready to dislike Alien, but the film gives him plenty of room to show his various sides. He might be a drug dealer. He might be an avid collector of weapons. He might be a show-off...but he actually has a heart. Alien's life revolves around having fun and he is his own boss. He doesn't make waves for himself in the city and he lives in a quiet house on the water that seems to be his own paradise. In the end, I liked Alien more than the four girls that he takes under his wing. He is the product of the beach town that lives and dies by the spring breakers.
Korine never lets you forget that it is spring break. The many many montages and flashes of naked women on the beach, constant flow of alcohol and the presence of narcotics will keep your mind on the fact that St. Pete's Beach is the location and spring break is in full swing night and day. The four girls are seen in every sleazy, run down place the beach has to offer. For the all the reasons that Alien has to be the way he is, the four female leads seem to have no reason for being the way that they are. Throughout the movie they call home and speak of how their lives have changed and how the trip has been so amazing. Some of these phone calls are the truth and some of them are boldface lies. Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Harmony's wife Rachel Korine play their roles in great fashion. If you know of Selena and Vanessa outside of acting and you role your eyes at their film career, then I would push you even more to see this movie. They all have different characteristics to set them apart, and the actresses become these characters very well.
Make no mistake. This movie is not for everybody. There is genuine dark moments within this film that do show the dangerous side of the spring break lifestyle and then there are other moments of plain strange scenarios. The scene in the bed with Franco and two of the girls comes to mind. If anything is working for this film it has to be the soundtrack. The opening with Skrillex sets the tone perfectly for what is about to take place. It is mostly hip-hop and electronic driven, but the Black Keys and Britney Spears make appearances. The entire sequence with the Britney Spears song "Everytime" is my favorite moment in the film. Cliff Martinez's name is also in this soundtrack and he is becoming a huge part of Nicolas Winding Refn's films for good reason.
The shots Korine got in this film and way he decided to film some of the scenes will keep me coming back to this movie and to his future films. Come for Alien, come for bikini clad women, come for an original film, come for the music, or come just to hear Franco keep repeating "Look at my shit".
I am not one for spilling the entire plot because you can read a summary anywhere. In a nutshell, this film is about four girls who want to go on spring break and once arriving they get arrested at a party. After the judge sentences them with fines and two days in lock-up, they get their bail paid early by Jame's Franco's Alien. When I watched the many previews for this film, I was ready to dislike Alien, but the film gives him plenty of room to show his various sides. He might be a drug dealer. He might be an avid collector of weapons. He might be a show-off...but he actually has a heart. Alien's life revolves around having fun and he is his own boss. He doesn't make waves for himself in the city and he lives in a quiet house on the water that seems to be his own paradise. In the end, I liked Alien more than the four girls that he takes under his wing. He is the product of the beach town that lives and dies by the spring breakers.
Korine never lets you forget that it is spring break. The many many montages and flashes of naked women on the beach, constant flow of alcohol and the presence of narcotics will keep your mind on the fact that St. Pete's Beach is the location and spring break is in full swing night and day. The four girls are seen in every sleazy, run down place the beach has to offer. For the all the reasons that Alien has to be the way he is, the four female leads seem to have no reason for being the way that they are. Throughout the movie they call home and speak of how their lives have changed and how the trip has been so amazing. Some of these phone calls are the truth and some of them are boldface lies. Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Harmony's wife Rachel Korine play their roles in great fashion. If you know of Selena and Vanessa outside of acting and you role your eyes at their film career, then I would push you even more to see this movie. They all have different characteristics to set them apart, and the actresses become these characters very well.
Make no mistake. This movie is not for everybody. There is genuine dark moments within this film that do show the dangerous side of the spring break lifestyle and then there are other moments of plain strange scenarios. The scene in the bed with Franco and two of the girls comes to mind. If anything is working for this film it has to be the soundtrack. The opening with Skrillex sets the tone perfectly for what is about to take place. It is mostly hip-hop and electronic driven, but the Black Keys and Britney Spears make appearances. The entire sequence with the Britney Spears song "Everytime" is my favorite moment in the film. Cliff Martinez's name is also in this soundtrack and he is becoming a huge part of Nicolas Winding Refn's films for good reason.
The shots Korine got in this film and way he decided to film some of the scenes will keep me coming back to this movie and to his future films. Come for Alien, come for bikini clad women, come for an original film, come for the music, or come just to hear Franco keep repeating "Look at my shit".
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