“I never cared so much about making perfect sense. I wanted to make perfect nonsense. I wanted to tell jokes, but I didn't give a fuck about the punchline.” - Harmony Korine, Filmmaker.
Harmony Korine is a prominent Independent American filmmaker who kicked off his career by writing the highly controversial 'Kids' directed by Larry Clark (Bully, Ken Park).
The first word that comes to my mind when I think of Harmony Korine is What! followed by 'the fuck'. His films are unintentionally unconventional, disturbing, avant-garde yet charming with underlying tones of dark humor & conflicting human emotions
Harmony Korine's films demand complete submission in order to experience it. You will either hate or love his films, but you can't ignore them. His filmography may not be the most extensive or known, but he definitely knows how to surprise the audience with his every new offering.
My personal favorites have to be Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, and Umshini Wam.
He usually points out in most of his interviews stating, “What I remember myself from films, and what I love about films, are specific scenes and characters.” and that's what he delivers in his debut feature film - Gummo released in 1997.
Gummo really isn't a film, in the conventional sense, but more of an uneven collage of the (fucked up) lives of different people in an alienated tornado-hit town.
Gummo primarily works as a bleak & weirdly hilarious slice-of-life film accompanied by a soundtrack that evokes a sense of melancholy & anger.
It's comprised of various photographically placed poignant, haunting, bizarre, and emotional scenes that are not only effective, but also affective.
It's the 6th film to be made under Dogme 95 & Harmony's second feature film. Julien Donkey-Boy released in 1999 featured a solid cast starring Ewen Bremner who plays Julien, Werner Herzog, and Chloë Sevigny who raised this film to a whole new level by their stellar performances.
The other strong points of the film lie in the schizophrenically heady, trippy, and disoriented visuals that paint a distressing yet quirky picture of dysfunctional family relationships.
I would describe this film as a result of mixing one color after another on a water color palette until you are exhausted & left with no choice, but to go with the final color on the palette - Good or bad, doesn't matter anymore.
Umshini Wam is one of Korine's many shorts, which released in 2011 featuring Yo Landi & Ninja with kickass & filthy beats by DJ Hi-Tek of the popular South African Hip-Hop/Rap group Die Antwoord.
It's a delightful tale about two wheelchair ridden wannabe gangsters whose daily activities include rummaging through garbage in search of treasure, smoking pot, playing, and spraying bullets.
The South African English accent & the zany performances by Ninja & Yo-Landi makes this film a pleasing & emotional watch. A 'Gangsta' film with a heart & soul!
