Folks, Harry here. From time to time we see a film about youth gone mad that stirs up the pot a bit. BULLY seems to be one of those. Hopefully, I'll be seeing it soon and will be able to comment further, but having read the reviews I've seen out there, like Roger Ebert's (whom I don't always agree with, but I sense I very well might on this film), well... I'm excited to see this film... as well as Larry Clark's Creature Feature TEENAGE CAVEMAN... If he can make a film as resonate as this... imagine what he might be able to do with a 'B' horror flick... I've got hopes...
Hey Harry, this is Chris Hall, and here is my review of Larry Clark's "BULLY"
There are parents in the homes of the troubled teens in 'BULLY.' The terrific question director Larry Clark asks is, "But does that matter?"
'BULLY' presents a band of teens living in a world of unattentive mommies and daddies, one where they are able to frolic to deserted beaches; getting high off acid and fu*king [I appologize for using such a blunt word, but honestly, that's all it is except for one couple]. The parents are usually at home when such things occur; one parent opens the door, finds her daughter in a room filled with girls and guys laying on a single bed. And then leaving them to their business with a warm-hearted, 'Be good sweety," or something to that affect.
Can you seriously blame kids for their problems when the parents are so outrageously oblivious to their daily life -- not just outside of the home, but inside, too. The teens are without any kind of positive, confrontational push from their parents. Their naivety may be closely related to that of the parents of the kids who shot-up Columbine.
'BULLY' tells the true story of a bunch of kids who murdered a boy for bullying them to death. Bobby, a bully, so persuasive, he has forced a straight friend of his, Marty, into dancing at gay strip clubs, performing phone sex -- and maybe even performing in gay porn. He has been bullying this straight friend of his since the 3rd grade.
The film begins, introducing two male characters: Bobby and Marty, who work at a Subway-ish joint where they meet: the very, very sexual and experimental Ali, and the just sexual Lisa. These four plan to meet at the beach, where they'll be taken to a "party." Later, Marty and Lisa are in a relationship; where they screw and smoke pot in Marty's bedroom. Ali, on the other hand, uses Bobby just to screw, when one day --
The idea to kill Bobby, the Bully, comes when he's screwing Ali, while also forcing her to watch gay porn, which quickly translates into rape. This girl, mind you, as said by a friend of hers, "Is into a whole lot of kinky stuff." This, apparently, was too over the top for her.
So no sooner do the kids get into a group and concoct a less than brilliant plan as to how they will kill Bobby; Ali, using her sexuality as the strongest manipulater, coaxes her men friends into helping her. But what they weren't thinking about were the consequences. However, they did begin thinking about it once the mission was accomplished. Oops!
Past all of 'BULLY's' frank sexuality -- and believe me, the film is as the critics have said, "very voyeuristic," and a thin line between teen pornography and behind-closed-doors / fly-on-the-wall moviemaking and storytelling. But once that is out of the way, 'BULLY' becomes, easily, one of the most important films of the decade. The kind of film that parents should screen at PTA Meetings. It's a film about parents not wanting to know their kids are screwed-up, so they choose to not pay much attention to them. It's an illusion, that's prettier than reality.
P.S. You know the acting in a film is superb when you sometimes find yourself misconstruing a work of fiction, with a documentary. Hands-down, this young cast of actors NEVER seem to break a sweat in their daring portrayals. BRAVO!
And to the director, Larry Clark: How in the world did you manipulate your actors into the majority of graphic, personal, scenes they did? Well to answer my own question: I believe that the actors trusted so much in the filmmaker that they just let it all hang-out bare!
