SPRING BREAKERS- INNOVATIVE DRAMA AT ITS BEST:

I know it's been out for a few weeks in the US now, but over here on my little island (the UK), Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers has only just hit cinemas. After just getting back from my second time seeing the film, I thought I would add to the various opinions and reviews of the film surfacing the internet.

Taking into consideration that this film is directed by Harmony Korine, I'm astounded at the amount of critics who are complaining that in this film, substance was overpowered by style. Although being Korine's debut mainstream film, I honestly don't know what film reviewers were expecting, the film completely works as a mainstream piece of art (after seeing it with a number of friends who are in no way film buffs, and almost all of them thinking highly of the film), and still sticks to Korines roots as an independent and stylistically innovative director.

The four female actors playing the young college students fit their roles perfectly, the acting is supreme, with another stellar performance by James Franco. This film shows teen actress' such as Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens displaying a wider set of acting skills than they have shown before, proving they are not bound to a one-type character.

This breaking out of the comfort zone for the actors is also reflected in the characters they play. Four college students leave their ordinary, mundane lives for a world of drugs, sex and crime. It is almost as if the roles were made for these actors, and I believe Korine was extremely clever in picking who he did to play his lead roles.

The film does ask a lot of the audience in terms of suspending their disbelief, such as the consequence-less hold-up of a fast-food joint, as well as numerous crimes and drug scandals, with the teens eventually being caught at a party taking drugs, one of their lesser crimes, to say the least. This, almost mockery, of the US Police Force is shown alongside an interesting outlook on the classic 'American Dream'. Alien (his character's name immediately presenting the idea of someone foreign to this planet - an exaggeration of the foreigners entering America) is a character who has lived the American dream. Money, women, a house on the beach, he seems to have it all. However his 'dream' turns into a nightmare when his past catches up with him, and an old friendship turns into a rivalry, ultimately leading to his death.

One of the biggest arguments against the film I have heard is that the cinematography and editing techniques are too 'try hard'. The fact of the matter is, Korine is exactly the type of director that a film such as this one needed. A simple crime-drama, however with shots showing exactly why Korine got the mainstream break he deserved- my favourite being the in-car tracking shot showing the two teens robbing the diner, accompanied by Nicki Minaj's 'Moment 4 Life' on the radio. This intensely thought out camerawork and sound recording shows the a change in the girls, and the new them that they have just discovered exists.

Overall the film is a work of art, and risk-takers are something I believe cinema needs more of. Through the advancing digital age, Korine uses classic equipment and stories and innovates new and exciting ways to present them to an audience. An extremely self-aware director, this reasonably unheard of director has made his mark on the mainstream world and has gained the interest of myself, and many others like me, I will definitely be looking out for future films by him.