The beggar on the New York subway has a body truncated at the waist and he rolls on a cart, chanting "I have no legs!" in a singsong as he passes. Just for a slight moment, he attracts the attention of Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) and Casper (Justin Pierce), who look young and healthy but are actually much more damaged than this legless man.
As Larry Clark's "Kids" harrowingly exhibits, these two are part of an emotionally dead teen-age culture built on aimlessness, casual cruelty and empty pleasure. Larry Clark's vision of these characters is so bleak and reasonably shocking.
"Kids" is a tough film, with a visual style that looks so uncompromisingly authentic, its impression of realism immediately raises questions, and its extremism is both artful …show more content…
But they are disturbingly familiar. You could easily find their counterparts in day to day life, and if you watch this film you'll never look at them in the same way again.
"Kids" exceeds traditional and economic categories with a racially mixed, mostly white cast that seems to have moved on past the usual stereotypes. A scene in which a black man is bumped into by a skateboarder is beaten violently by a mostly white crowd, this scene plays as something more than a racial incident; it plays as something worse. Moments earlier, the mob od skaters taunt and abuse an interracial gay couple, and when violence erupts in a disconnected fury, it's clear these freewheeling, macho teen skateboarders are simply eager for a fight.
Larry Clark offers neither analysis nor prognosis, but he spectacularly captures a world beyond everyday taboos. In this film's atmosphere, casual brutishness comes easily and fills all sorts of obvious holes in the characters' lives. The very saddest of the lost characters in "Kids" are the little brothers of these teenagers, seen here sampling drugs, partying and trying to keep up with the tough talk. They've barely reached puberty and are already drifting into the older boys immoral, irreversible
As Larry Clark's "Kids" harrowingly exhibits, these two are part of an emotionally dead teen-age culture built on aimlessness, casual cruelty and empty pleasure. Larry Clark's vision of these characters is so bleak and reasonably shocking.
"Kids" is a tough film, with a visual style that looks so uncompromisingly authentic, its impression of realism immediately raises questions, and its extremism is both artful …show more content…
But they are disturbingly familiar. You could easily find their counterparts in day to day life, and if you watch this film you'll never look at them in the same way again.
"Kids" exceeds traditional and economic categories with a racially mixed, mostly white cast that seems to have moved on past the usual stereotypes. A scene in which a black man is bumped into by a skateboarder is beaten violently by a mostly white crowd, this scene plays as something more than a racial incident; it plays as something worse. Moments earlier, the mob od skaters taunt and abuse an interracial gay couple, and when violence erupts in a disconnected fury, it's clear these freewheeling, macho teen skateboarders are simply eager for a fight.
Larry Clark offers neither analysis nor prognosis, but he spectacularly captures a world beyond everyday taboos. In this film's atmosphere, casual brutishness comes easily and fills all sorts of obvious holes in the characters' lives. The very saddest of the lost characters in "Kids" are the little brothers of these teenagers, seen here sampling drugs, partying and trying to keep up with the tough talk. They've barely reached puberty and are already drifting into the older boys immoral, irreversible