Paranoid Park

Directed by Gus Van Sant, and told through a letter, Paranoid Park is the story of a young (at a guess, 16 or 17) skater who accidentally kills a security guard, and what has happened in his life after it as he struggles to come to terms with what he has done. There's nothing complicated about the story itself, the lead, Alex, sometimes stumbles over his words as he reads aloud, but it jumps a lot through different timeframes, repeating scenes as he struggles to piece together what has happened - 'I was never very good at creative writing'.

It has one of the most horrifying scenes I've ever seen. Forget monsters and full on gore, this was just plain disturbing. I actually choked on my popcorn. It is a bit gory, but its the sheer horror of what is actually happening itself at the scene of the security guard's death.

What’s great about it is that we don’t see the archetypal skater boy - we meet a shy, nervous boy who's messed up, but tries to keep it to himself. His girlfriend seems only to alienate him further, as he struggles to come to terms with the fact that, unlike his friends, he cant see past her annoying habits, even though she is extremely pretty. There are lots of simple shots of his face where we get to try to figure out what’s going on in his head.

Its pretty good as a character study, the lead, Alex is really good - most of the scenes are focused upon him. The music and background noises used were fantastic - one scene where he is in the shower just after the murder uses sounds instead of music which communicate his emotions perfectly, while his face is hidden by his hair.

Most of the actors as were chosen through myspace, so there are few overly pretty types, which makes the whole thing feel more real. An odd film, but its different enough from all the blockbusters out just now to make it worth seeing.

Paranoid Park is out now.

empty_inbetween · 29th December 2007, 2:32pm

i

Gus Van Sant
i wanna see this.

pANDAS Radio · 29th December 2007, 2:35pm

Nice review, i'll have to watch this.

MarkMono · 29th December 2007, 2:48pm

Though I did find myself thinking that that sounds exactly like the archetypal skater boy.

pANDAS Radio · 29th December 2007, 3:01pm

True. they're an entirely different breed to Sk8r Bois.

Jenpot · 29th December 2007, 4:01pm

I quite fancy this. Cineworld card at the ready m'hinks.

Bunnylingus · 29th December 2007, 11:55pm

I think he concentrated more on the fact he was a teenager that was part of a group, rather than the group he was in, if that makes more sense?

Its worth seeing, so go.

Id be interested in seeing some of his other stuff now.

Just dont eat before it.

Stew · 29th December 2007, 11:59pm

I wanted this to be a story about Rangers Football Club.

Semprini · 30th December 2007, 5:04pm

Saw this today, it's actually pretty good.

Jen-Y · 6th January 2008, 12:40am

I went to see this tonight i thought it was brilliant. Something about it was so real and i found myself thinking "SHIT MAN what am i gonna do?!". Needless to say i got a bit sucked in.

Bunnylingus · 6th January 2008, 11:04am

I dont know that I could watch it again.

I probably could, if I could skip THAT scene.

Jenpot · 6th January 2008, 6:30pm

I went to see it after all, I loved it. I found it really similar to Van Sant's other stuff, I got totally drawn into it..you do kind of feel exactly what he's feeling, which for me was along the lines of.."I am so fucked."

I was quite surprised it showed you the security guard's death to be honest, given in Elephant you didn't see any gore at all and a whole school got shot up. It was pretty horrific though, not a nice way to go eh?

System_Star · 6th January 2008, 8:44pm

I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was going to commit murder through the screening though. Cineworld at the weekend suuuucks.

Bunnylingus · 7th January 2008, 12:17pm

I literally gagged at it.

Yeah, its the kind of film people talking through would be particularly annoying, because you really need to pay attention to follow it I reckon.

Jenpot · 7th January 2008, 3:56pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by System_Star

I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was going to commit murder through the screening though. Cineworld at the weekend suuuucks.

Aye same. I went to see it on a Sunday afternoon, and there was clearly a bunch of girls sitting at the back who didn't realise what they'd actually chosen to see. They proceeded to talk/slag it off the whole way through in what I think they thought was whispering, only to stand up at the end and say, fairly loudly, that "They would never get that two hours of their life back".

Why didn't you just leave then, you complete idiotic arse?

I hate people that talk through films, biggest pet hate ever.