Julien Donkey-Boy (2000)

It's hard to rate this movie - but . . .

I'm usually attracted to off-the-wall flicks - and this one is off the wall. . . However . . . 1) the film is grainy, which only got on my nerves; 2) the father was great, as was the Julien, the schizophrenic. But not much of a story line - simply showing the life of a schizo. 3) it didn't really go anywhere - this is life, mental illness is all around - it's just whether you notice it or not. I think this is way overrated for what it is - and while it had a decent cast, the characters lacked greatly. July 6, 2008

Desires and Suffering of Humanity

A story about a mentally impaired teen living with his disfunctional family. He gets his sister pregnant which inevitably leads to a sad and tragic ending. A very unique and risky movie, because some of the cast aren't real, but just everyday people that don't know they are being filmed for a movie. Also, much of the cast doesn't seem like they are real actors or professionals, because they seem like realistic human beings, which gives the movie a very real feel to it. There is a lot of improv, which they all do an outstanding job. As tragic and depressing as the movie may sound, it is not without it's humor. It is black comedy. Something definitely different to see any night of the week. A tragic tale of the desires that lead to the suffering of humanity. June 9, 2008

Schlock disguised as "art"

The trouble with reviewing films like this is that there is the pretentious crowd that think if you don't like it, then you don't understand it. I liken this group to soccer fans. Even though their "sport" is boring, overlong, dull, and structurally unsound, the fans look down on anyone who doesn't like it.
This film, like most in the Dogme 95 style, is a lot like the previously stated view of soccer. The arthouse crowd will be all over it because it uses no artificial lighting, costumes, etc. and they are smarter than you and I because they like it. In reality, however, it seems after viewing this film that a 14-year-old got a bunch of his buddies together and pieced together different incoherent scenes with a couple of digital cameras and hidden video.
I have to give this crowd credit, because it seems that they can slap anything on film, give it a pretentious name like "Dogme 95" and get away with it because if you don't like it, then you just aren't smart enough to "get it".
I think I will make a Dogme 95 movie. The next time I need to have a bowel movement, I will take along the old Sony Handycam. I won't use any artificial light, except for the bathroom 60-watt halogen, and film it from beginning to end. I will film lots of close-ups and hold the camera at weird angles to really call myself a "filmmaker". If you don't like my movie, then you just don't understand it. Please pass the green tea and the organic cucumber slices, I have a tree hugging meeting at 4:30.
May 28, 2007

Not as good as Gummo-- but then, what is?

Julien Donkey-Boy (Harmony Korine, 1999)

It's been about a week since I saw Julien Donkey-Boy, and I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it. As with all of Korine's movies, it's just a slice of the life of a very, very odd individual, in this case Julien (Alien vs. Predator's Ewen Bremner), a teenager with an ocean of emotional problems, the main one being schizophrenia. We follow him, along with the various other members of his family--father (Werner Herzog), brother Chris (Evan Neumann), and pregnant sister Pearl (Korine regular Chloe Sevigny)--as they go through their lives.

The truly great part of this movie is the minor characters, who are often compelling (more so at times than the principals). As one of the emotionally disturbed, Julien wanders through a number of support groups, and the people he encounters there are fascinating. A number of them could have done with a bit more face time, but we end up seeing much more of the interactions between Julien and his family members, which aren't especially interesting most of the time. There are exceptions, of course, but many of the family scenes slide quickly into the tableau of crazy Julien, disappointed father, embarrassed brother, and sympathetic sister. Korine does attempt (or so I gather from the copy on the back of the DVD case) to introduce a plot with the opening scene, in which Julien kills a playmate, but nothing but the occasional reference in passing is ever made to the scene, and it never even approaches resolution.

This is not to say that the family scenes are devoid of worth; a number of them are as effective as anything else in the film (Julien's long phone conversation with his dead mother is particularly good). I just with there'd been more of a balance between the family scenes and the other aspects of Julien's life. *** May 27, 2007

For gummo fans only

If you didn't like Gummo don't bother, this will just piss you off.
If you don't even know what Gummo is, than be prepared for some sad depressing greatness. January 19, 2007

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