Gummo (1997)

A customer from Nottngham , 19/09/2007

Taking Werner Herzog's Stroszek as its main inspiration, this collage of beautifully shot super-8 and 16mm vignettes strings together a very loose narrative on the bizarre inhabitants of a small Ohio town.

Despite the grotesque and occasionally horrendous nature of some the scenes (detailed in practically every review), Korine admirably refuses to take any kind of directorial or moral judgement on any of the characters, which somehow makes the film all the more affecting. At times it truly is very sad, but this is buoyed by a vibrant authenticity that makes 'Gummo' stand way above the likes of Todd Solondz.

  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

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Chill William from Brighton, UK , 11/02/2007

This film aptly summarizes the darkness and beauty of America the apathetic, mundane and inadvertently cruel. Rather than offering any particular narrative type tale, essentially this is a series of fragmented shards; scenes that all seem to subtly add up to reflecting the inanity of surburbia looking to Hollywood as it's totem deity.

If you're of the opinion that the mainstream suffers from a deep psychological bent, and that the trivial gloss sheen of glamour is one full of cracks and illness.. then this is one hell of a film.

  5 out of 8 people found this review helpful

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Lee from Southend , 01/02/2005

If your at a loose end and there is nothing on the box, rent Gummo. Arm-wrestling dwarfs, dead cats, cross dressing teens and a boy with a cone shaped head eating spaghetti bolognese in the bath. Wicked.

  5 out of 9 people found this review helpful

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Koppert from Scarborough [Highly rated reviewer] , 12/10/2007

The characters are almost camouflaged in the sureality of the film. Korine is up his own bum but is messed up enough as a person to make it amazing

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

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A customer from Nottngham , 19/09/2007

Taking Werner Herzog's Stroszek as its main inspiration, this collage of beautifully shot super-8 and 16mm vignettes strings together a very loose narrative on the bizarre inhabitants of a small Ohio town.

Despite the grotesque and occasionally horrendous nature of some the scenes (detailed in practically every review), Korine admirably refuses to take any kind of directorial or moral judgement on any of the characters, which somehow makes the film all the more affecting. At times it truly is very sad, but this is buoyed by a vibrant authenticity that makes 'Gummo' stand way above the likes of Todd Solondz.

  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

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Koppert from Scarborough [Highly rated reviewer] , 12/10/2007

The characters are almost camouflaged in the sureality of the film. Korine is up his own bum but is messed up enough as a person to make it amazing

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

Read all highest rated reviews