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| 'Paranoid Park' |
| [DVD Review] Directed by Gus Van Sant (2007) |
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Howard Schumann (howard16)  |
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Published 2008-08-11 08:31 (KST) |
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 |  | | | | | | ©2008 IFC Films | Based on a young adult novel by Blake Nelson, the title of Gus Van Sant's "Paranoid Park" refers to a skateboarding park in Portland, Ore., by the lonely, disaffected teenagers who congregate there each day to skate or just hang out. The film, however, is not about the skateboarding subculture but about one boy's interior journey and his interactions with his inner and outer demons.
Alex (Gabe Nevins), a shy, almost passive 16-year-old teenager, has a lot on his plate. Though he has the optimistic cherubic looking face of a young Bob Dylan, on closer look his face conveys a world lacking in emotional security or intellectual curiosity, a life torn by the impending divorce and apparent disinterest of his parents. As if that wasn't enough, he must also come to grips with his involvement in the bizarre death of a railroad security guard that occurs close to the skateboarding facility where he often visits with his best friend Jared (Jake Miller).
Alex relates the circumstances of the story's main incident in a monotone as if he is reciting a little understood poem before his class. He is reading from a journal that he wrote at the suggestion of Macy (Lauren McKinney), a friend who sensed that something was eating at him. Nevins, a first-time actor, portrays a character whose interests are limited to skateboarding and avoiding the sexual advances of his girlfriend Jennifer (Taylor Momsen).
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FROM THE SECTION |
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| Though the acting may seem amateurish, the very inarticulateness and fumbling improvisations of the actors, recruited from MySpace, more fully captures the real world of adolescence than contrived Hollywood and Indie productions with self-confident, articulate teens moving to a formulaic script.
Similar to Van Sant's "Elephant," the film is shot in non-linear fashion. Events unfold in a gauzy dreamlike state and many scenes overlap or are repeated before the viewer can untangle the actual sequence of events.
While watching others skate, the vulnerable Alex, suggesting a homoerotic undercurrent, is seduced by a scruffy, slightly dangerous looking teen into riding the freight trains with him, an action that leads to an assault by an over eager security guard who, after striking Alex with a baseball bat, is thrown backward by a blow from Alex's skateboard into the path of an approaching train.
Although a detective comes to the school to question those in "the skateboard community," Alex is not considered a suspect, yet his mind is in turmoil and he is unable or simply unwilling to confide in his parents, his brother, or anyone else, though he thinks about calling his father at 4 a.m.
The film, however, does not revolve around the story, but around Alex's inner state. Outside of the opening narration, there is little else to guide the viewer other than the mesmerizing visuals and a wonderful soundtrack consisting of eclectic music from Nino Rotto, Beethoven, Elliott Smith and others.
Combined with slow motion shots of skateboarders dancing gracefully in the air, "Paranoid Park" is visually and sonically arresting. It also has masterful cinematography from Christopher Doyle with sequences shot in 35mm and others with a Super-8 camera to convey a feeling of unrehearsed naturalism. One of the best is that of Alex's girlfriend's response to his attempt to break off the relationship, her anger obscured by Nino Rota's theme from Fellini's "Juliet of the Spirits" as a way of intuiting the emotional distance Alex is feeling.
Perhaps the most eloquent scene is a close up of Alex's face in the shower after returning home from the train yard. As he is struggling with his guilt, the rush of water surrounds him to the sound of tropical birds.
As in his response to Macy's question about the Iraq War, Alex has isolated himself from his feelings about the world around him, reacting to real or perceived parental indifference by turning off anything that has to do with adults. He is a "good kid" but simply lost and without guidance. He does not listen to his conscience, and either ignores or rationalizes things that do not fit into his reality. Yet his first step in communicating his feelings through a journal may be a hint that he is beginning to recognize the value of open and honest communication, the first step toward achieving maturity.
Though Van Sant at times tends to focus his camera on Alex in a way that aestheticizes him and his depiction of adults as out of touch and insensitive borders on cliche, in "Paranoid Park," he has nonetheless fashioned a poetic and heartbreaking film that pulsates with the truth of deeply felt experience.
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©2008 OhmyNews
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