Tags
2010's, Ashley Benson, Crime, Drama, Harmony Korine, James Franco, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez, Spring Breakers, Vanessa Hudgens
Film Title
Spring Breakers
Director
Harmony Korine
Starring
- James Franco as Alien
- Selena Gomez as Faith
- Vanessa Hudgens as Candy
- Ashley Benson as Brit
- Rachel Korine as Cotty
- Gucci Mane as Big Arch
Spring Breakers is a film that will certainly divide opinion. It’s already ran the gamut of critical consensus from exploitative trash to audacious study of the American Dream gone awry. Both arguments can be aimed at the film but it emerges as an experience that will be hard to forget after the credits begin to roll.
Faith, Candy, Brit and Cotty are four female college students bored with life on campus as everyone else has gone away for spring break. Suffering from a lack of money to fund a trip, Candy and Brit come up with an idea to get some cash. Using water guns that look very real, they don ski masks and rob a local restaurant, Cotty aids them as the getaway driver. Picking up Faith, the most innocent of the group, they head for Florida, where they indulge in debauchery, drug taking and wild partying.It seems to be the best spring break experience they have ever had, until they are busted for being caught with cocaine at a party. Facing time in a holding cell, they are suddenly bailed out by an unexpected presence. His name is Alien, a local gangster/rapper who specialises in arms dealing. He convinces the quartet to spend time with him and his lifestyle. But slowly but surely, the ugly side of the lifestyle begins to raise its head and as the girls descend into violence and drugs, they are left questioning whether the lifestyle is as seductive and hypnotic as it first appears.
Although it will definitely polarize people’s views, there is no denying the visual style that Harmony Korine brings to the film. Bathing scenes in neon and voyeuristically showing debauchery, he doesn’t shy away from anything and leaves little to the imagination. It can be argued that the nudity and excessive drug use don’t stand for anything, but the repeated use of them hints at the way in which society has become desensitized from these things due to a constant influx of them in the media. Scenes are repeated and overlap in a very hypnotic way, that first shows the allure of the lifestyle but then shows the dark undercurrent that surges through. Voiceovers play an important part as well, the words “Spring Break Forever” becoming a strange mantra for the girls but also a warning of the dire consequences that may indeed follow. Sonically, Spring Breakers puts you in a an almost dreamscape environment with trance music accompanied with ambient noises. Particularly effective is Korine’s use of dichotomy such as the sound of Britney’s heartfelt “Everytime” counteracted by scenes of Alien and the girls robbing people and the religious Faith praying whilst another girl swigs whisky from a gun.
James Franco contributes a crazy as hell, barely recognisable performance as the charismatic yet extremely dangerous Alien. He promises the girls so much, highlighted by the scene in which he flaunts his wealth in a vulgar and almost ridiculous manner. It is a performance that lingers in the memory for sure. Out of the four girls gone bad, Faith is given the most individuality. Played with sincerity by Disney Princess Selena Gomez, she emerges as a girl torn between the shady lifestyle of Alien and her church roots. The rest of the girls have personalities that interchange a lot of the time but still turn in credible performances, especially Vanessa Hudgens as the one who is most drawn to what Alien promises her.
Whether you see it as nothing but trash or nightmarish examination of society’s flaws, Spring Breakers is most definitely a film that is inventive and uncomfortable in equal measure.
Abbi said:
Great review!
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vinnieh said:
Thank you very much.
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impossiblegirl123 said:
That was an amazing review!
I personally don’t really like the movie that much, but I also don’t take it as serious as some others do and therefore I could enjoy watching it.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, it is a film that people either seem to love or loathe.
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impossiblegirl123 said:
True, I haven’t met anyone who wasn’t very opinionated about it yet
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mikeyb185 said:
Such a well written review!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the kind words man.
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Tim The Film Guy said:
Bewbs.
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CMrok93 said:
Good review Vinnie. Very messed-up movie, however, it has a point to all of it’s messiness and that’s what I liked about it the most.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, I agree it does have a point.
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Alex Withrow said:
Nice review. I agree, like it or loathe it, it’s impossible to deny that this film is nothing less than inventive and new. I loved it, but could understand why some would not.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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davecrewe said:
“Voiceovers play an important part as well, the words “Spring Break Forever” becoming a strange mantra for the girls but also a warning of the dire consequences that may indeed follow. Sonically, Spring Breakers puts you in a an almost dreamscape environment with trance music accompanied with ambient noises.”
Nice review – the quoted paragraph sums up why I liked the film so much. Even if I can’t exactly puzzle out the entire purpose of the film, it has this hazy, insubstantial, dreamlike quality that so many movies try to capture with little success.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the review.
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teny said:
Great review! I am not going to miss this one – for its innovation 🙂
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, let me know your thoughts on it.
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samaberdeen said:
Great review! I agree with all your points. It’s a very polarizing movie, but it wouldn’t work any other way.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, as you said it wouldn’t work any other way as a film.
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thomasjford said:
Nice review, Vinnie. You know my thoughts on the movie, but a good review anyway. Far more eloquent than mine!
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, I try to be as eloquent as I can.
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thomasjford said:
More than eloquent mate, a good way with a review. As good as any published reviews in magazines etc I would say
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vinnieh said:
Thank you very much, that comment has just made my day.
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thomasjford said:
Good, keep it up mate!
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MattFromRI said:
This is a really excellent review. I was fortunate enough to see this movie at the premiere in Austin, Texas at SXSW in March. I was able to view it in the same theater as Franco, Korine, Gomez, and the rest of the cast. They were also gracious enough to do a Q&A afterwards. I left the movie not sure what to make of it. But after a few days of letting the themes settle in, I was able to appreciate this for what it is, a view into new American society.
Great post and an awesome overall blog. Thank you for sharing
-Matt (From The Average Nobodies)
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for your kind words, I bet the q&a was interesting.
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David H. Schleicher said:
Visually and musically the film was daringly hypnotic…but what vapid sleaze…it eventually bored me to near sleep as there was nothing of substance underneath the undeniably transfixing style.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, yeah I can see where you’re coming from with your point.
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bencebardos said:
nice! the ‘sex and violence’ desensitisation of modern society is very true. the oversexualised HIV, incest, threesome plot elements of Korine screenplays (‘Kids’, ‘Ken Park’) are great examples of a new filmmaking generation that hardly has taboos anymore
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for the comment, much appreciated.
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alexraphael said:
Great review dude. You have real flair, style and perception.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks, well I try.
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alexraphael said:
You do more than that 🙂 I do wonder how much money they made off that selling that poster.
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vinnieh said:
Probably a lot, I remember seeing it almost everywhere.
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beetleypete said:
Not sure if this would be my sort of thing, but it was interesting to read the review.
Cheers, Pete.
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vinnieh said:
This film sharply divides opinion so you aren’t wrong there Pete.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I don’t think this movie is for me Vinnie, but once again you’ve written a thorough an thoughtful review!💁🏻
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vinnieh said:
It polarises many people with its content.
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