Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds

14th July 2011

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KABOOM (dir. Gregg Araki, 2010)

I may be hunted down by the journo-New Order for this one, but Gregg Araki’s latest fucking rocks. Often derided for his satirical 80’s-teen-like output, he does have a following none the less. A following that see beyond the vacuous teen representations that dominate American cinema. 

Kaboom is another slice off The Doom Generation / Nowhere block that must surprise those ‘serious’ film critics that praised his seemingly more mature previous feature, Mysterious Skin - Smiley Face that followed came and went under the radar presumably for being too ‘out-there’.

The film follows Smith (another reference to his beloved band), a bi-sexual late teen dislocated from society (in fact society barely exists here) and continuously horny, and the friends and associates he interacts with. What follows will bring demonic powers; cult factions; cinematic in-jokes aplenty (from Un Chien Andalou to the lead duo’s amusing resemblance to Mulder & Scully); new found sexual encounters and awakenings; and the hippest dialogue since……well, never. For anyone familiar with the directors work will no doubt appreciate the b-movie sci-fi / horror hybrid that so suits his characters endearing shallowness, but as ever there is touches of depth and meaning to what plays out - even if this is blatantly secondary to having a blast. And yet again another ace Araki soundtrack (a Ulrich Schnaus & Robin Guthrie collaboration for starters!) to keep the whole thing ice-cool.

If you get to the final 20 minutes and think all is a bit too shallow then you probably are not in the audience to begin with, probably having some foreseeing vision of how the world might end, you see……and if anyone should film such a climax to this planet we inhabit, then let it be Gregg Araki!

Tagged: kaboom 2010gregg arakisci-fib-movieteen film