Like Calvin Klein, it is his fascination for youth culture and how young adults micro-manage their lives in an adult world where this auteur spreads his wings best. Borrowing from a segment of the high school population featured in Elephant, this is an examination of innocence lost and disconnection, Gus Van Sant’s latest displays the difficult transition from years of teenage urban wilderness to adult responsibility, and while skateboarding is not a crime, being a good kid in the wrong place at the wrong time can sometimes be perceived as such – it all depends if that fragile male frontal vortex gets in the way. Set against the backdrop of the skateboarding community and culture, despite a certain lack of depth, Paranoid Park remains a lyrical character study that is pristine in the visual, aural and temporal categories – and like Gerry, Elephant and Last Days before it, this Cannes main comp entry should appeal to the art-house crowds.
The film’s title and setting convey a dark place and the possible state of mind when a homicide is involved. Based on Blake Nelson’s young adult novel about the slacker generation on wheels, like in his last couple of films, Van Sant passes no judgment on his central character/young protagonist. It offers surprisingly poignant results and with non-actors in the forefront, the micro-sampling of life with bizarre social agendas works wonders, however it’s the temporal creativeness that places viewers into the contextual frame of mind of a person’s learning curve that has gone astray – and for that this may be engrossing.
Playing with the narrative form – using repetition and timeline deconstruction, the storyline does manage to carry a certain intrigue, though Van Sant takes away distraction of who committed the crime early on, where the interest lies is in measuring the state of mind that the protag finds himself in, examining how he might deal with being found out and pinpointing his impulses. Here, Van Sant gives his non-actor played by Gabe Nevins a deer in headlights look – his impassiveness is completely understandable when we take into account the isolated, teen angst life he has in relation to his parents and the sort of relationship he maintains with his pretty girlfriend.
Splurging on the look – Christopher Doyle’s presence is felt throughout the picture (look for him in the first scene) and along with a crisp handling of the 35mm, there are some Super 8 skate films inserted over the course of the film. The army of half-pipe specialists with long locks of hair perform under with a trance-like quality – it may be viewed as arty supplements but this faithfully taps into this particular culture.
As in his last three features, Van Sant accesses his characters and narratives through the technical ingenuity – here wizardry in the editing room and a soundtrack that mixes portions from Fellini score’s with youth culture music shows that there is a splendid assortment of manners in which to explore youth culture which guarantees that fans will love this, critics will be divided and everyone else will hate it.
May 21st – Official Competition Cannes Film Festival
Runtime: 84 Minutes
