Review of Gummo (1997) by Iowa B — 26 Jul 2015
Cat-killing kids and broken back-stories take centre stage in Harmony Korine's downbeat and dirty docu-drama.
More arbitrary than visionary, Gummo is a collage of controversial clips and muffled voiceovers; some of which are interesting, others of which are just jarring.
The film gives off a shaky sense of realism and follows some potentially interesting characters, but Korine's picture is essentially devoid of any real meaning beneath its revelry in the exploitation of impoverished and slightly odd-looking Americans.
Meandering, maddening and ultimately empty, it comes to something when a film's finest moment is a kid dropping a Crunchie bar in a dirty bathtub.
This review of Gummo (1997) was written by Iowa B on 26 Jul 2015.
Gummo has generally received mixed reviews.
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