Kaboom (Araki, 2011)
March 20th 2011 16:11
Kaboom (Araki, 2011)
Written March 20, 2011
Kaboom is the latest feature in writer/director Gregg Araki’s eclectic brand of filmmaking which has spanned over two decades. Araki, a pioneer of the New Queer Cinema movement in the early 1990s, has a penchant for creating films that are highly unapologetic and utterly self-conscious in their tone and presentation. For his most recent film, Araki evokes this sentiment to the max, returning to his vintage 90s roots of such films as Nowhere, The Doom Generation and even, to a degree, Splendor. Kaboom is about sexually promiscuous teenagers facing the end of the world. It seems like this is a film Araki wanted to make years ago and in a way already has: the film’s similarities to Nowhere, right down to the look of the both film’s main protagonists is undeniable; as is the premise of which could easily fit as a fourth installment to Araki’s self-professed ‘Teenage Apocalypse’ trilogy.
Ultimately, Kaboom fails on a general cinematic level as it doesn’t say much of anything and instead comes off as film school-y, overly self-aware and slightly pretentious. On the other hand, if one is aware of Gregg Araki’s filmography then you knew what you were getting into at the start. The film, as a whole, is classic Araki in that it doesn’t care if it’s shallow or if the ridiculousness of the plot makes sense; it’s intentionally self-aware, campy, and overblown. Kaboom’s tone is very specific – it’s the same tone of all of Araki’s film; cynicism laced around a shy, unsuspecting protagonist thrust into a world of chaotic disruption. It’s self-aware, campy, and completely overblown.
Sometimes Araki aims for a more serious undertone (the brilliant The Living End) but most of the time he’s out to expose a generation that doesn’t appear to change given the product of their environment. The teenagers in Kaboom are very similar to those in Nowhere and Totally Fucked Up yet the generational gap is over 15 years. With Kaboom, Araki may have updated his soundtrack from Shoegaze but his protagonists are still just as promiscuous and sexually fluid as ever. Araki enjoys exploring sexuality and then wrapping it around concepts that can lead to self or man-made destruction. His two most serious films are also his best: The Living End, a raw, often funny yet dark exploration of early HIV and Mysterious Skin, a surprisingly gorgeous yet highly disturbing depiction of sexual abuse. The latter is not Araki’s own material (based on a novel by Scott Heim) and thus it is interesting that it’s the director’s most widely acclaimed and well-made film to date. Araki broke away from his chaotic, unyielding nature with Mysterious Skin and instead created a tonally controlled masterwork.
The content of Kaboom is not necessarily worth summarizing; experiencing the film is essentially a visceral experience through an explosion of color (now even more oversaturated than he was able to do in the 90s), cheesy visual effects, an abundance chaotic camera movement that ultimately fails and gratuitous sex, gay and straight alike.
When you finish watching Kaboom it’s as if you’ve been on a trip yet you didn’t have a map or a final destination in mind. The first act of the film is decent and the opening scene alone is classic Araki in the best sense; familiar and comfortable. However, he soon veers off into supernatural elements and a storyline that attempts to be too intricate for its own good. The reveals occur too late and by the time they do, we’re no longer sustaining interest. The actors are attractive to look at and definitely function well within the confines of the director’s world, style, and superficial intent. For an Araki film, it works; it sets out to do what the director intended by his own standards. As a lover of the director since his foray into cinema, you come to accept his style and motivations even if it doesn’t always adhere to your particular wants or desires.
Ultimately, Kaboom is worth seeing for the sole purpose of placing it next to the Araki’s collective cinematic works in terms of theme, content and style. If you’re seeking an evolution of his craft as a director or something more along the lines of Mysterious Skin and the maturity he possessed there, then you will be disappointed. Araki, to this day, remains unapologetic in his cinematic representations and presentations and you either accept it as a fan or you decide he is not for you.
| 31 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Bryn Tilly
Horrorphile
Comment by Cinema is Truth
Cinema is Truth
Cinema is Truth
Comment by Bryn Tilly
Horrorphile
Comment by Anonymous