I approached this expecting an explicit, controversial film for controversy's sake -- something disturbing and, let's face it, fabricated. I was surprised to find that yes, its aim is to make parents lock their children in their bedrooms for the next fifty years but also to truthfully examine modern-day childhood the way it really is.
I knew kids like this, who talked like this, who listened to the Beastie Boys and who bragged about anything sexual they could think of. This movie follows the adventures and sexual pursuits of Telly, an AIDS-infected young teen who goes around taking advantages of virgins.
We're led to believe Telly isn't aware of his disease but I think perhaps he does and gets off on possibly spreading it to others. One of his ex-girlfriends (Chloe Sevigny) becomes infected and spends the entire movie looking for Telly to warn him before he has sex with a young virgin.
The end of the movie is pretty tragic and quite sad really. Yes, it is wrapped a bit too nicely in the sense that all this stuff happens to one group of kids within a period of a day or so, but by compacting many events into one scenario director Larry Clark makes quite a compelling little film/semi-documentary.
One thing I should also mention is the dialogue, which I found to be the most realistic in any kid-starring film I've ever seen. He didn't just choose talented actors, he got the expressions, mannerisms and jargon perfected -- as a result it does come across as a very authentic, genuine film and even if you hate it, there's no denying it's pretty sickening. Whether you find that a good or bad thing is entirely up to you.
I knew kids like this, who talked like this, who listened to the Beastie Boys and who bragged about anything sexual they could think of. This movie follows the adventures and sexual pursuits of Telly, an AIDS-infected young teen who goes around taking advantages of virgins.
We're led to believe Telly isn't aware of his disease but I think perhaps he does and gets off on possibly spreading it to others. One of his ex-girlfriends (Chloe Sevigny) becomes infected and spends the entire movie looking for Telly to warn him before he has sex with a young virgin.
The end of the movie is pretty tragic and quite sad really. Yes, it is wrapped a bit too nicely in the sense that all this stuff happens to one group of kids within a period of a day or so, but by compacting many events into one scenario director Larry Clark makes quite a compelling little film/semi-documentary.
One thing I should also mention is the dialogue, which I found to be the most realistic in any kid-starring film I've ever seen. He didn't just choose talented actors, he got the expressions, mannerisms and jargon perfected -- as a result it does come across as a very authentic, genuine film and even if you hate it, there's no denying it's pretty sickening. Whether you find that a good or bad thing is entirely up to you.