Not for those into entertainment only
ARTE has scheduled a lot of good movies for May. I just watched Paranoid Park that I had missed when it was released. This is one of Gus Van Sant's best films, in the wake of Gerry, Elephant or Last Days. It's a book adaptation and yet a personal movie as only great filmakers can make so.
As often with Gus Van Sant, the story is about a teenager and focuses on the relationships he has with mates and family. Above all it appears that Alex is into skateboarding, fascinated with a skating park-- the youngsters called it Paranoid Park, and its crowd of dropouts. The place keeps luring him but he mostly remains a watcher, and some day Alex finds himself involved in a deadly accident that police investigates as a murder.
All the story is told from Alex's point of view, following a scenario that plays with time, something Van Sant likes to do, but does here with maestria. What a brilliant direction! The cinematography is superb and the score is again very good.
The lead looks like he just came out of a Botticelli's painting (and yeah there are possible gay underlines that could be spotted here and there), and the film really nails it when it comes to teenage's uneasiness, lack of communication, facing horror (and the scene, when it is finally showed, is quite horrible indeed), postponing growing-up, and dealing with a big secret. The ending is perfect-- even though I'm sure that some viewers felt robbed or cheated-- as it matches the final way the main character finds to cope with what happened to him. It's all about writing down, not about providing answers and resolution to those who might see what was written.
The only weak point is the female characters for they are either unlikable, unattractive or just sort of fuzzy; it's obvious, once more, that GVS isn't interested in them much...
As often with Gus Van Sant, the story is about a teenager and focuses on the relationships he has with mates and family. Above all it appears that Alex is into skateboarding, fascinated with a skating park-- the youngsters called it Paranoid Park, and its crowd of dropouts. The place keeps luring him but he mostly remains a watcher, and some day Alex finds himself involved in a deadly accident that police investigates as a murder.
All the story is told from Alex's point of view, following a scenario that plays with time, something Van Sant likes to do, but does here with maestria. What a brilliant direction! The cinematography is superb and the score is again very good.
The lead looks like he just came out of a Botticelli's painting (and yeah there are possible gay underlines that could be spotted here and there), and the film really nails it when it comes to teenage's uneasiness, lack of communication, facing horror (and the scene, when it is finally showed, is quite horrible indeed), postponing growing-up, and dealing with a big secret. The ending is perfect-- even though I'm sure that some viewers felt robbed or cheated-- as it matches the final way the main character finds to cope with what happened to him. It's all about writing down, not about providing answers and resolution to those who might see what was written.
The only weak point is the female characters for they are either unlikable, unattractive or just sort of fuzzy; it's obvious, once more, that GVS isn't interested in them much...