“Dial it Down”: The Films of Harmony Korine

Halfway into Harmony Korine’s debut film Gummo, a young man, who has spent the film’s runtime killing cats and sniffing glue, encounters a young woman with down syndrome who is being prostituted. They have a small but oddly touching interaction. This moment of off-kilter beauty speaks to writer-director Harmony Korine’s gift for finding the charm of society’s undesirables. To watch the films of Harmony Korine is to look at the abandoned, broken, and unwanted. The decaying mid-western town at the heart of Gummo. The broken family in Julien Donkey -Boy. The vapid and violent party-goers in Spring Breakers. Korine has spent a career reveling in the oddball. His unique storytelling abilities have earned comparisons to Fellini, Cassavettes, and Herzog. However, his tumultuous career and life have also earned scorn from several critics, accusations of exploitation, and a lifetime ban from Letterman.

Korine’s first taste of fame and controversy came as the writer of Larry Clark’s Kids. Earning a rare NC-17 rating, Kids introduced audiences to an uncompromising new talent and put Korine in contact with the producers needed to help create his first feature, Gummo. Based in the town of Xenia, Ohio, which was decimated by tornadoes in the 1970’s, Gummo is an arresting vision of decaying Americana. Infamous for its scenes of adolescents killing cats, Korine’s debut tells its story in vignettes dealing with themes of sexual abuse, alienation, and death. Gummo introduced Korine as a purveyor of the odd and repulsive and contains the abstractions and dreaminess that would define the rest of his work. The film received scathing reviews from most critics, but earned acclaim from filmmakers such as Werner Herzog and Gus Van Sant.

Korine’s career following his first feature has been tumultuous. His films continued to push the envelope of cinematic expression, with his second film Julien Donkey-Boy being the first non-European film to be made under the rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto. However, he dealt with substance abuse issues that negatively impacted his productivity. He returned with Mister Lonely, which follows a group of celebrity impersonators living on a commune. Next, the VHS-shot Trash Humpers in which he returned to his free-form roots. In the last decade, he has made two Florida-set odysseys in Spring Breakers and The Beach Bum. The last two films are the closest Korine has come to traditional American film. However, their loose plot and unconventional editing point to a filmmaker still preoccupied with moving the needle in cinematic storytelling.

Few living filmmakers have more claim to the label enfant terrible than Harmony Korine. Looking through Korine’s filmography, the only consistency apparent is the ability to challenge his audience through subject matter and cinematic expression. Furthermore, Korine, a fan of vaudeville and minstrel shows, consistently shines his spotlight on oddballs and freaks. His films have the power to shock and repulse. However, for those willing to deal with his provocations, he is among the most forward-thinking filmmakers working today.

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