Totally F***ED Up Review
Totally F***ED Up (1993)
Cast: James Duval, Roko Belic, Susan Behshid, Jenee Gill, Gilbert Luna, Lance May.
Written by: Greg Araki
Directed By: Greg Araki
Totally F***ED Up is a film that not only gave way to new styles of filming but also made a small part history within the New Queer Cinema genre. It follows six teenagers in they're everyday life, showing their struggles, opinions and the general life of a teenage homosexual. One character films the other characters with a traditional handheld camera getting their views on love, life, etc, which are both beautiful and in a way slightly cryptic. You see these teens talk like adults, face heartache like adults, but at the same time you get reminded these characters are just kids. You see these guys as a family, loving and bickering with each other and even two of the girls in a loving, traditional lesbian relationship. This film however shows sadness and realities, with an ending that will hit you hard.
Greg Araki is a well know name within the New Queer Cinema and the underbelly of films, creating movies like Mysterious Skin (2004), and also The Doom Generation (1995) and Nowhere (1997), which go along with Totally F***ED Up in what has been called his Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy. All three movies are filmed brilliantly and show harsh realities of teenage life; all three star Robert Duval. This movie and Araki's directing are not afraid and I love that, the homosexuality is not thrown in your face but it will be held in front of you until you find the courage to accept that this is going on, this is a life, this is many peoples life. Don't be a coward, don't be afraid-accept, revel and learn, which I think is part of Araki's goal with these films.
The way this short movie was filmed makes it very personal, with the low quality handheld camera when the characters tell their views, its like the low quality almost represents the low-ness in emotion or level of their living. The locations in American, like Requiem For A Dream show dark street corners and the dark indulges these characters revel in.
The acting in this film is brilliant, they come across so comfortable in what they are, but also the emotion they play is almost heart wrenching, especially the talent put across by Robert Duval who plays a very broken boy, you see him at a point in which he's most vulnerable and the consequences of never truly being able to be completely open with the world or even yourself.
There are down points in this film that I feel other film critics will pick up such as, the film not having a fully structured narrative resulting in you losing the connection with the film slightly as you can become too busy questioning 'where is this going?'. However, if you are just a general fan of Araki's work or the New Queer Cinema genre I feel you will have a large connection with this film.
All in all this film is scarily real and true, the emotions you can feel within this movie will touch you in many places. The climax of this movie is a scene you wont forget due to the sadness it can make you feel, the heartbreak of loss within characters. I suggest if you like the New Queer Cinema genre, are homosexual yourself or generally enjoy almost experimental and independent style films, check it out because it's a movie you'll find yourself befriending.
My Rating: 8/10
VF
Cast: James Duval, Roko Belic, Susan Behshid, Jenee Gill, Gilbert Luna, Lance May.
Written by: Greg Araki
Directed By: Greg Araki
Totally F***ED Up is a film that not only gave way to new styles of filming but also made a small part history within the New Queer Cinema genre. It follows six teenagers in they're everyday life, showing their struggles, opinions and the general life of a teenage homosexual. One character films the other characters with a traditional handheld camera getting their views on love, life, etc, which are both beautiful and in a way slightly cryptic. You see these teens talk like adults, face heartache like adults, but at the same time you get reminded these characters are just kids. You see these guys as a family, loving and bickering with each other and even two of the girls in a loving, traditional lesbian relationship. This film however shows sadness and realities, with an ending that will hit you hard.
Greg Araki is a well know name within the New Queer Cinema and the underbelly of films, creating movies like Mysterious Skin (2004), and also The Doom Generation (1995) and Nowhere (1997), which go along with Totally F***ED Up in what has been called his Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy. All three movies are filmed brilliantly and show harsh realities of teenage life; all three star Robert Duval. This movie and Araki's directing are not afraid and I love that, the homosexuality is not thrown in your face but it will be held in front of you until you find the courage to accept that this is going on, this is a life, this is many peoples life. Don't be a coward, don't be afraid-accept, revel and learn, which I think is part of Araki's goal with these films.
The way this short movie was filmed makes it very personal, with the low quality handheld camera when the characters tell their views, its like the low quality almost represents the low-ness in emotion or level of their living. The locations in American, like Requiem For A Dream show dark street corners and the dark indulges these characters revel in.
The acting in this film is brilliant, they come across so comfortable in what they are, but also the emotion they play is almost heart wrenching, especially the talent put across by Robert Duval who plays a very broken boy, you see him at a point in which he's most vulnerable and the consequences of never truly being able to be completely open with the world or even yourself.
There are down points in this film that I feel other film critics will pick up such as, the film not having a fully structured narrative resulting in you losing the connection with the film slightly as you can become too busy questioning 'where is this going?'. However, if you are just a general fan of Araki's work or the New Queer Cinema genre I feel you will have a large connection with this film.
All in all this film is scarily real and true, the emotions you can feel within this movie will touch you in many places. The climax of this movie is a scene you wont forget due to the sadness it can make you feel, the heartbreak of loss within characters. I suggest if you like the New Queer Cinema genre, are homosexual yourself or generally enjoy almost experimental and independent style films, check it out because it's a movie you'll find yourself befriending.
My Rating: 8/10
VF
Comments
Post a Comment