Julien Donkey-Boy
Director: Harmony Korine
Year Released: 1999
Rating: 3.0
This is a unique experiment by Korine that's taken me two viewings to actually form a firm opinion on: it's as vapid as they come content-wise (a bunch of crazies in the same house!) and Korine's penchant for outré antics (like Werner Herzog in a gas mask or drinking cough syrup out of a slipper) is still suspect, but its particular brand of visual poetry makes for some of the most memorable images of the last couple of years. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle deserves a lot of credit, as does Korine's disregard for convention: he's the street preacher who's jumping up and down and shouting about the hollowness of Hollywood and the need to change the way we tell stories, and not afraid to go out on a limb himself (whether or not he's successful is debatable). Ewan Bremner's fascinating as the schizophrenic title character, as is Chloe Sevigny as his pregnant sister.
