Spring Breakers.

Spring break, forever.


So what is Spring Breakers about? Spring Breakers is not an easy film to put into words, it's a lot of things and not really a whole lot at the same time. It's a twisted, modern fairy tale, it's a horror film, an exploitation film, a comedy, a piece of social commentary, a deconstruction and largely an exploration of the harsh realities of life. But everything that goes wrong on the screen, is usually very right for us in the theatre.

What is perhaps most important is that Spring Breakers although going exactly where you probably expect it to be going, doesn't really go there how you expect it too. We assume behind Alien's (a self-appointed gangsta, who sucks four 'innocent' teens into his world) charms and general goofiness must be something sinister, this is reinforced by the dense atmosphere and seedy world of the films aesthetics, however there really isn't. Although Alien is undeniably a bad man, he isn't really charismatic or intelligent enough to ever be as threatening as you expect him to be. It would appear the path Brit and Candy take and the destination they ultimately end up at, was one they were always destined for. They are using Alien for their own goals, much more than Alien is ever using them.

At the risk of being, 'that guy', I really do feel that a lot of people just won't get Spring Breakers. Spring Breakers is in many senses two films layered over one another and the second film is one a lot of people will probably miss. And sadly in turn, that one is the most interesting.

Laugh if you will at the past works of Harmony Korine, I personally find most of his work to be trash, Korine is an art director and not a conventional multiplex director and this comes into full play here. Spring Breakers is a very enjoyable exploitation film on the surface, in many senses it plays out like a ninety minute MTV music video, however most of what Spring Breakers is, most of it that matters, most of it which sets it apart from thousands of other trashy movies of this nature, is told thematically, not narratively. Most dialogue and even action has little purpose, it's only when that action and dialogue is taken out of its initial context and layered or stacked against other parts of the film does the purpose really come into play.

For all jokes that Korine is just a perv and made an excuse to follow four gorgeous women in bikinis around, the fact that each line of dialogue and each scene has a purpose normally to an initially and seemingly unrelated moment either later or earlier in the film shows that every shot and every recorded line of dialogue had a purpose. Yes that includes every ass, tit and bikini shot. The problem here is if you have no knowledge of filmic construction then you're going to miss out on basically everything Korine, and Spring Breakers, has to say and without that all you're left is a pretty creepy, although undoutably sexy, exploitation film which is unlikely to leave you walking away with a reaction as positive as mine is.

In many senses, Spring Breakers is a trailer for itself. Although a direction does start coming together for the film, a majority of the first hour is just drinking, partying and sex. However what the film does is slip in random bits of dialogue and footage of more climactic moments later in the film as if to tease those who in the audience can't handle the art film style, 'don't worry, I have a plan for this film, just keep watching, you won't be disappointed'.

What you can't deny however is that Spring Breakers looks great. Every shot is wonderfully staged and captured for full effect with unconventional camerawork. Some sequences we see play out multiple times from different angles, with different edits and it just creates a really very visually pleasing film. Wow Korine, who knew you could be such a good director?

Also at the risk of being that guy, wow man. The four leading ladies are gorgeous, three of which get varying degrees of naked, however all four spend the majority of the film in little clothing getting up to sexy acts. And although it often seems for critics to be the thing you aren't 'allowed' to say for fear of being low-brow or whatever, I loved that aspect of the film. Although there was a lot of depth, I kind of liked the fact that Korine weaved the depth in which meant his pretentious nature and deeper messages never got in the way of the groin aching sexiness. The threesome between Alien, Candy and Brit is worth the price of admission in itself, watching it on the big screen was just incredible.

And trust me, with all the gorgeous skin on show, ironically the one person you'll be struggling to look away from is Franco who absolutely owns the role of Alien. Even aside from the braids, the metal teeth and general 'gangsta' aesthetic, Franco vanishes into Alien. You see Franco for momentary flashes but ultimately Alien is Alien, he isn't Franco playing a character and that is what makes him so mesmerizing.

Also, what a fucking fantastic soundtrack, I know that this will probably either date the film or permanently capture it in this moment of time perhaps but as of right now, I had to fight the urge to dance and sing along through most of the film. And with the MTV, dreamlike aesthetic mixed in, I sometimes felt like I was right there in the party as high as everyone else. God damn I certainly wanted to be.

However I do feel the need to point out that it does seem that Korine is actually insulting anyone in the audience who enjoys it on an entertainment level. Largely because this is a critique of this generation, he isn't trying to so much glorify their behaviour, but instead to magnify it so we can pick out everything wrong with it with greater ease. What that in turn means is if you do enjoy this film on an entertainment level, find yourself tapping your feet to the music or wanting to be right there in the party, Korine is basically asking you to look at yourself and wonder what exactly that says about you. Whether the culture depicted here really is as morally fucked and seedy as it's presented is not a matter considered, Korine thinks it is and so it is thus. Obviously all filmmakers paint the world as they see it but I don't know, there is something so very biased and unapologetically so in Korine's voicing of this opinion that those in the crowd, of this generation, who aren't in turn drug fuelled criminals, are probably going to walk out of this film feeling frankly insulted.

This does in turn make you wonder if there is a place for Spring Breakers in our multiplexes. Unlike many professional, semi-professional or student critics who cast off mainstream cinema as 'stupid cinema', I in turn prefer to think of it as simple cinema. No matter how complex the narrative, good is good, bad is bad, good wins in the end. I go to the cinema to escape the problems in my own life and if you're the same, if you go to the cinema simply to be entertained and to see good triumph over evil...you won't really get that here. You aren't really supposed to like anyone in this film and sure that is the point but it doesn't make for the easiest or most comfortable of watches and I can perfectly understand if that put you off.

I had personal problems with the film itself as well. Firstly was the character of Faith, cute, innocent and religious. The other three girls sweep her into their lifestyle much in the way Alien sweeps the three up into his. However nothing is ever really done with Faith, she is played for little affect or conflict. I have seen some claiming that Faith marks a religious undercurrent to the film, a notion of 'faith is the right path' but she was in the film for such a short amount of time and involved in so few of the truly crucial moments of the film that if that was the intention of her character, I'd long forgotten about her before her supposed purpose could have an effect.

The other problem is the film just sort of...ends. Although it would have been out of place for the film to close with some huge, fantastical action sequence, given all the build up and investment we're given ready for the final moments, those final moments could be missed if you blinked. And as the girls drive off into the sunset in the lamborghini, after everything, you are kind of left asking if that is it. It all ended a little flatly for me. Maybe that was the point.

So do I recommend it? In short Spring Breakers delivers everything it was marketed as but in reality, is another film entirely, a great one. I recommend it to exploitation fans on one level but to truly appreciate this film in all its glory, this is one for the film buffs and the film students. Sorry Average Joe.

Think About It!

-Locke

What would you rate, 'Spring Breakers'?