Gummo (1997)-"R"

Run Time:88 minutes

3 and 1/2 stars out of 4

Gummo is the most painfully and stunningly realistic film that I have ever seen. Written and directed by Harmony Korine, co-writer for Larry Clark's Kids, this is Korine's directorial debut. I'll say right off the bat that this is not a movie to be judged by enjoyability, it is more of an extreme culture shock. Disturbing, realistic, and chock full of scenes that will stick in your head, Gummo is like the American dream according to criminally insane mental patients. Set in Xenia, Ohio, after a devastating tornado, the whole town seems to be still recovering from the shock and loss caused by the disaster. Everyone seems to be cruel, crazy, or retarded. You know that you are in for a strange experience when it seems that the most normal character is a gay black Jewish midget (Bryant L. Crenshaw), when compared to the rest of his neighbors. Pretty much a film devoid of any plot, we instead see a barrage of scenes of everyday life in this small, god-forsaken little town, as seen through the eyes of our two main characters, Tummler (Nick Sutton) and Solomon (Jacob Reynolds). Both boys devoid of any morals, constructive ideas, and any supervision, they wander from place to place in the town, killing cats, sniffing glue, and talking to their equally disturbed neighbors. We meet a man who pimps his retarded wife, a perverted gossip column writer, a supermarket clerk who buys dead cats, and a multitude of other angry, cruel, and sick people. I'm not sure what the point to this film is. At times, it seems that it is a depiction of people suffering from loss, but it is hard to tell. It could have just as easily been a view of the altered, realistic view of small-town life, similar to Wisconsin Death Trip, or something. Despite its interpretation, Gummo excellently portrays a bizarre, demented, and sad little town, full of abused and misguided people, and Lords knows abused cats. Just like Korine's previous work in Kids, you come away from this film wanting to believe that people and places like that don't exist in the world, and that everyone can go home happily, but secretly realizing what a disturbed and vile place the world can really be. Films that can provoke such strong and serious thinking in audiences cannot just be dismissed as crap, something to be avoided and frowned at. This film is much deeper, much more sincere than the Pink Flamingos-style cult movies, only made for their shock value. At least you can come away from this film feeling lucky to be who you are.