How come I never heard about this movie before now?
I’m going to make my kids watch this movie one day when I actually have them. Whatever you may think of the message of the film, it surely makes you think about important things. I know that there are kids that behave this way and in the future I am sure it is only to get worse.
I really enjoyed it. Not because I learned something. One of my favorite parts is the way they captured New York. I have been to New York many times and it seems to capture the feel of the city perfectly. The kids could be seen as the background about a film about New York. I’ve never seen a film that did it this well. The scenes on the street were well done. The scenes in the park were also well done. Even the scenes in the apartments seem like those of people that I know. I can’t describe how it seems to capture many of the things about the city that are undescribable.
For me, America is a land of extremes. The more that I have been abroad I have learned to appreciate and respect this. We have the most extreme cars, foreign policy, religion, attitude towards sex, attitude towards urban development, and much much more. For me, New York seems to be the culmination of all of these extremes in one city that is the same time very American and very foreign. My favourite part has to be the last scene when this whimsical music plays when they show scenes of what goes on in the streets of NYC. The crazy people, the people in the park, etc. As a non-New Yorker, I have always found New Yorkers to be a strange bunch, but I like it because they are extreme in a good way. This film seems to capture this, but I can’t exactly explain why.
I thought it was a dreadful, irresponsible film. I know he claimed his ‘research’ involved going and talking to kids. Clearly, if that’s what he did, he then cherry-picked the aspects he could sensationalise. And I thought the acting was uniformly dull and uninvolving.
I definitely don’t think he “cherry-picked the aspects he could sensationalise.” This movie is eerily realistic. The events that take place in the movie really do happen even with kids those ages. That’s what’s so great about the movie, it’s a wake-up call and a shock back into the realities of the world. The acting to me was so realisitic that I had to keep reminding myself that it is just a movie. It blew me away how much it seemed like they just hid some cameras and taped these kids. It was definitely realistic, which is why it had such an immense effect on me and everyone who I know who has watched it.
Isn’t that what all writers/directors do? There are some kids like that. Just because most kids are not like that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t show these particular kids. The same thing with Thirteen. Most 13-year old girls are not like that, but some are. Not all Italians are Mafia, but the ones in The Godfather are. Not all cops are crooked, but the one in Training Day is.
Mini rant, not really (or not yet) directed at you…
People seem to hold Kids and Thirteen to a different standard than they would other movies. Because no kids THEY know are like that, the movies are unrealistic or exploitive. I don’t get it. Any other movie, they accept that, ok, this is the story of THESE people acting THIS way in THIS situation at THIS particular time in their lives. Kids and Thirteen are no different but some people insist that they’re trying to paint all or most kids as being like that. It’s very bizarre to me.
I agree that the movie is very realistic-looking. I thought it was chilling. It didn’t make me think that all kids were cruel, sexed-up dopers. I thought Thirteen was very realistic too, but then, I’ve been there and know from experience.
My Kids anecdote:
Back in 96(?) I happened to be in NYC with a native New Yorker friend of mine. Wandering around, we eventually found ourselves in Washington Park.
“Hey!” I said. “This is where that really creepy scene took place in Kids when they beat that guy with the skateboard”!
A couple minutes later, swear to God, the black kid (who did the beating in the movie) skates by . :eek:
Oh yeah, my friend says, dismissively. All the actors were just kids they picked from the neighborhood. I guess they like to hang around and get recognized.
Pretty crazy.
Incidentally, this movie excelerated the end of a relationship I was in. The girl I was seeing was still a virgin (at the ripe old age of 24). We had been dating for about 5 months and my less than virgin self was getting a little antsy. So we go to see this movie (bad call) and she absolutely freaks out. Any amount of trust I had built up over 5 months was gone in a flash of “all sex equals disease and rape” celluloid.
I wouldn’t be surprised if 9 years later she still hasn’t partaken in the old carnal pleasures…
I have worked with street kids. Trust me, whatever disturbs you about that movie *should * disturb you. It’s a powerful and important – and disturbing – film.
