Such a frustrating disappointment

Let's be realistic.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Being acquainted with Larry Clark's work, i went to see Ken Park. I was disappointed although the movie had all the hallmarks of Larry Clark's work: troubled teenagers, irresponsible adults and a lot of naked bodies.My issue with Ken Park is the focus on the dark side of humanity. Not that it doesn't exist in real life, but there is absolutely no light in the darkness of Ken park apart from indulging in sexual intercourse and masturbation. It left me with a feeling that the scenario was written by someone who hasn't left teenage angst behind him. In a way, this was true, since at least one version of the scenario has been written by Harmony Korine in his mid-twenties.I feel sorry for anyone who had to go through anything similar to the stories told in Ken Park. Yet, it seemed to me how the authors piled everything up only to make us feel bad about being alive...

I really tried to watch this film and see something other than just a vicious display of humanity's spiritual abyss, but for me, that is all there is to this "work of art". I did not see any artistic vision or any intellectual message worth transmitting. All I saw was a porn movie that includes children. I have absolutely no problem with showing shocking material in films, when it contributes to the story or plot or the understanding of the characters or something else. But showing things like that without any kind of artistic or intellectual purpose is just nothing but disgusting to me. Why would anyone want to watch that? It is too far from the reality most people are experiencing (I really do hope so) to feel connected to the characters. It is way too gross to be somewhat enjoyable or entertaining and it is too shallow to actually make to think about the topics in the film. What kind of point are they trying too make? Some people are sick and therefore cruel to (their) children? Is that the point? They think a viewer should be tortured with those images to understand that point? You hear about things like that everyday on the news. If you want to dig into a subject matter of this kind , why not make it in a way that is touching or realistic or both? Why make it an ice cold porn movie that makes you want to rip your eyes out? I usually don't give a "one star" rating, because I know that making a movie is incredibly hard work and I at least appreciate the effort, but I cannot condone this crap in any kind of way.

I had heard about this movie years ago, while reading an article about "distrubing scenes in cinema history". This film was described as "shocking" and considered as "pornographic" by some professional reviews. Today I finally decided to watch it and make my own idea of the film, because I had also heard that some people called it a true work of art. Anyways, today I finally decided to watch it and make my own opinion out of it. Let me be straight : this movie is NOT for everyone, and not just because of the sex scenes, but because it is very hard to watch those characters struggling with their families and with life. Some scenes are very disturbing on a psychological level, not just because of the images. When it comes to explicit content, the movie never shies away from showing male or female nudity, or even actual sex acts on-screen. One scene in particular is quite intense but I won't spoil it for you, I guess the point of that scene is to show you how free from censorship this movie wants to be.That being said, this movie is great. I never thought I would give it 8 out of 10 but it really went beyond my expectations. I appreciate Larry Clark's work and liked both "Kids" and "Bully" (even though I preferred "Kids" but lets move on) but I was expecting him to lose his "filmmaking hand" as he got older, but he didn't. He kept the exact same style as always, but this time went much deeper into the character's feelings. "Kids" was all about showing what teenagers really did when they were together, in their own secret world filled with sex and drugs and "Bully" was more about the violence that can build up in some teens, and the fact that no one is really there for them from making big mistakes. But "Ken Park" on the other hand is actually more about the parents of these kids. They have no real adults to look up to, practically all the families depicted in this movies or either broke (financially and emotionally), frustrated or freaks. With no supervision, these kids seek for love and appreciable affection where they can find it : with their friends, drugs and sexual experiences.As always this is a Larry Clark film, so realism is at it's top level, and as always he makes all these stories, scenes, characters completely believable. Some performances are amazing (James Ransone), some stories are strangely touching and emotional (Claude and his father), some scenes are electrifying (Shawn and his girlfriend's mother) and some moments weirdly peaceful (final sex scenes). It almost feels that sex gives those teens a reassuring feeling of comfortness and love, a way to get away from their horrible families and just free themselves and their bodies from all the boundaries they have. Some choose drugs, some choose violence, some choose death (Ken), but others choose consensual sex. Is it a really moral kind of message to pass to teenagers? No. It is supposed to be an example of what to do, does it give a solution to family problems? No. But is it strangely beautiful in its realism and depiction of reality? Yes.A.C.

Ken Park focuses on several teenagers and their tormented home lives. Shawn seems to be the most conventional. Tate is brimming with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother. Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They're all rather tight, or so they claim. But they spend precious little time together and none of them seems to know much about one another's family lives. This bizarre dichotomy underscores their alienation. The result of suburban ennui, a teenager's inherent sense of melodrama, and the disturbing nature of their home environments. A movie that reflects America society more than any other movie done before. A story structured in parallel narrations of spread out America suburbs. Many characters melt together in a lyric and yet minimalistic view on a disoriented society where the commune sense is lacerated by a the idea of the perfect family, or the perfect life. We see a desperate portrait of love, and hate. The film is amazingly shot, with a constant focus on the subject as element separated from the background. I strongly suggest this movie for who is not familiar with the hidden faces of America society.