Paranoid Park Review
Going to try something different from my usual music reviews here with a brief overview of Paranoid Park. I rented Paranoid Park (directed by Gus Van Sant) yesterday from Blockbuster because I couldn't find anything else that seemed particularly interesting. While I knew it would hardly be a mainstream film, I never expected it to be quite as weird as it actually is.
The film, based on a book of the same title by Blake Nelson, follows the story of a skater who accidentally kills a security guard and the effects of this and him trying to come to terms with what he's done. I say follow, but this is where the weirdness starts - the film starts somewhere in the middle, jumps to the start, to the end, to somewhere else in the middle, to somewhere else and so on and so on. While it is quite interesting to find exactly what is happening by piecing the different parts of the story together, this becomes very confusing and it is often very unclear where the story is. The main reason this style seems to have been used is simply to be weird, but it doesn't really help the film at all, quickly getting annoying.
The direction of the film is quite unique. There is very little dialogue, and lots of scenes just following people walking around or simply doing nothing. This is often accompanied by the superb soundtrack which contains everything from Elliot Smith to Nino Rota to experimental ambient music. Even when the music tracks are upbeat the film retains a very strong detached, eerie and haunting atmosphere, and always a very bleak mood. This atmosphere is mainly thanks to the extended periods of silence where the film really allows the viewer to empathise with the characters. However, sometimes this goes over the top and it can get boring watching someone stare into nothingness for what seems like hours. There are also long sections with nothing but skateboarding. If you're, like me, not at all interested in skateboarding these sections can also quickly become tedious to watch.
When the characters do speak, it is usually done in a documentary style with the camera closing in on just the face of the person speaking. It actually looks quite amateurish but works well. The acting is decent overall. Gabe Nevins gives an oustanding performance as Alex, the main character. While he doesn't have to portray a huge range of emotions he is always totally believable. However. he. does. speak. like. this. when. narrating. which. is. very. annoying. The scenes where he talks to the police officer investigating the security guard's death are always very tense.
Overall, Paranoid Park is a decent, if overrated, film. While watching it parts seem way to dragged out and the layout is far more confusing than it needs to be. However, the bleak atmosphere stays with you long after the film is over.
/ 5
Originally Posted by God
