Spring Breakers

The final form of the film is the polar opposite of what I originally expected from it. I went into it expecting pure teenage masturbation over the backside of Selena Gomez and her friends, which someone like Stifler would have summed up simply with the words "boobs, titties, hooters, knockers", but in the end I got a truly serious criminal plot with an execution so provocative, novel and ironic that it was simply irresistible. Korine laughed in my face, filmed it in his own way and according to his own rules, and did it extremely well. It's a pity that by the end he went a bit overboard with the laughs and that he repeated some of the "jokes" so often that they lost all credibility. And it's a shame that Selena packed up halfway through the film and never showed up again :-) Quite an interesting surprise, but unfortunately it doesn't deserve more than 55% after the first viewing. (06/29/2013)

Maybe a little more alternative than would be appropriate. From the audience's perspective, it’s a very confusing and "unpleasant" film that says quite a lot and even makes sense, but it’s poorly executed (the dramaturgy, the dialogues) and confusingly shot and unfinished (the editing, a number of wtf scenes) that only few will grasp and extract some of that film gold that is somewhere in there. Basically, a definition of today's era and youth, but the viewer could easily overlook it and end up thinking it was just mindless rubbish. (08/22/2013)

Admittedly, like many people, I was fooled by the trailer that promised a completely different sort of entertainment than what I eventually got. From the beginning, it looked like a celebration of the stupid American teen generation, which I didn’t even think I’d manage to watch until the end. That’s how idiotic it seemed at the beginning. Then you’re just waiting for the girls to run out of all the booze and drugs, then feel a little sorry that the spring break is over and then the final credits roll. But Korine goes against all your expectations and breaks them down one by one. After much deliberation, I'm giving it 4 stars. Of course, it has its weaker moments and it does get boring at times, but the way this work was perfectly thought out will hit you eventually (well, not everyone, I guess). Suddenly, you realize that it’s criticism of the current completely vacuous generation, getting high on drugs and booze, always looking for more thrills, while becoming more and more entangled in a vicious circle, with the following rule: whoever escapes it, wins. PS: The people behind the campaign for this movie (as well as those who did the casting) should receive at least half of the earnings. That's what got this movie into cinemas, and it definitely paid off. (06/27/2013)

An artistic rendition of a girls’ trip to Florida or a perverse probe into the world of booze, drugs and weapons? Korine wants to film art, but emptiness filled with repeating scenes or whole sentences, strange lighting and filters (at least imho) just isn’t art. Empty prattle about friendship, supported by emotional imbalance and a freaky ending that brings the young generation a message involving a really good slapping. A huge positive role is James Franco’s Alien who overacts as much as possible, enjoying the caricature of a white black gansta/rapper to the last drop. Ingenious manipulator or stoned nut-job? I’d like to see a prequel showing his rise. (09/01/2013)

If anything succeeded, it was the mutilation of all audience expectations. Freshness, lightness, and natural passion are swept away by sophisticated and desperately repetitive grabbing of everything that dances, shakes, or moves in any unconventional way at all. And yet the real low blow is the script, clearly written by a thirteen-year-old boy desperately bored at home during the holidays whose abundant imagination is shaping a story about what the unattainable group of girls from the nearby high school might be doing at that moment. And it's probably not surprising that as a result, neither the characters, dialogue, story, or anything else actually work. Maybe just a few good songs that might evoke a summer mood under different circumstances and the hypnotic Cliff Martinez soundtrack, which is nonetheless running on empty in this mess. (07/19/2013)