Harmony Korine: From Gummo to Spring Breakers

               

               

      Harmony Korine is widely known in the indie community for his unique style of film making.  Harmony’s films are typically far from the mainstream in the sense that they tend to depict people and events through a bristly, gritty viewpoint and contain all the strange familiarity of a nightmare you can’t wake up from.  The cultural dissonance portrayed in his films is characteristic of Korine’s artistic style.  His films have a habit of making people aberrantly mad, but if you watch them with a heightened sense of concentration, you can actually appreciate the stylistic choices made by Korine.  From his film making debut at age 19, Korine has made films that showcase a sense of exaggerated realism in a weird and gritty way, until recently.  His new movie Spring Breakers seems to me to be the exact opposite of the style that he has tried so hard to maintain.

Korine’s 1997 film Gummo, is a low budget film that follows two boys named Solomon and Tummler on their involvements in Xenia Ohio, a small town that never actually recovered after being torn apart by a tornado in the 1970’s.  Korine immediately terminates the idea of a plot line by showing us bits and pieces of disconnected scenes with many bizarre characters who really express to the audience the central idea of the film, which is a corrupt group of kids.  Korine also did not use real actors to act in this film because he felt that real people could contribute something more than an actor ever could and that is a sense of realism and personality.  The film is extremely off-Hollywood due to the simplistic cinematography and stylistic choice.  The film is a lower budget film with less expensive talent and showcases a sense of exaggerated realism by following the ‘ordinary’ lives of the characters.  

Korine’s latest film Spring Breakers seems to be a colossal change in Korine’s style. By only watching the trailer movie appears to be much different that Gummo but in reality it still encompasses the same central idea which is a group of corrupt kids but it is just displayed in a more flashy and provocative way, and it helps that it has a story line.  Korine, who previously did not like to use real actors in his films, uses ex- Disney stars to make a point about kids and corruption.  In my personal opinion, I believe that Korine’s choice to use ex- Disney stars in this movie will actually heighten the symbolism and make the movies message more realistic when the audience sees that even the teen actors they looked up to on their favorite television shows are now bikini wearing bank robbers that sworn to do whatever it takes to have the most wild spring break.  Opposite of Gummo , this movie seems to be more on the Hollywood side than the indie side, with bug budgets, stars , and advanced cinematography.  Although the movie seems to lack the grit and grain that is characteristic in the rest of Korine’s films, I’m sure the movie will contain a unique twist that I believe no one in the theater (except those who know Korine’s work) will see coming. 

                I hope that when the movie comes out, it will show the world just how good a Harmony Korine film can be and maybe people will find a new found appreciation for his older works.  I also hope that Korine will stick to his stylistic preference and not conform to the ways of mainstream film making, unless he wants to. I’m sure a lot of people wouldn't mind the change though.