The Florida Project * * *
The guy who made this (Sean Baker) should seek out Andrea Arnold. They make exactly the same sort of films - they both really like disadvantaged, uneducated, poor white folk and they both make films which go on far too long for their subject matter. There are a lot of other parallels:
1. Don't worry about lighting and expensive sets, just get yourself a camera and sound and you're in business.
2. For the lead role just go find a complete unknown and give them a few acting lessons, because you'll never get an actress to look as authentic as the lead role demands. But for a "name", to sell the damn thing, find an established actor sympathetic to the project, and have them take a secondary role: in the case of American Honey it was Shia LaBeouf. In Florida Project it's Willem Dafoe. (Both do a great job by the way.)
3. Plot? Keep it loose. This is more about a few weeks in someone's life than a developing story. In fact that is the story. Just create a whole bunch of situations and get them to act it out. But towards the end create a crisis which is a consequence of their lifestyle: all the better if it makes them look like a tragic victim.
To be honest I found this highly praised "authentic", "honest," "raw" film rather tedious. It's set in a cheap hotel block just outside Disney World Florida. (Yes we get the ironic juxtaposition). Halley is a permanent resident. Covered in tattoos and sporting coloured hair. She was working as a stripper, but hasn't been getting any shifts lately - or any other kind of work She's got a five year old daughter who runs wild and hangs out with the other kids in the hotel block. They all give the long suffering manager (Willem Dafoe) a hard time. The kids are always up to no-good and Halley can never pay her rent on time.
There were times when I was impressed, even amazed. Never more so than with the children's acting which was extraordinary, especially new comer Brooklynn Prince as Moonee. In fact, watching the kids is the best part of The Florida Project. A lot of the film is following them around and their actions can be hilarious, charming, disgusting and frightening, from spitting contests to arson.
It's a style of film making that can deceive you into thinking you're seeing more than you are. Worse, as evidenced by some of the drippy reviews out there, it's a style of film making that can make you feel you understand another class of people, who, under other circumstances (like reality for instance), you wouldn't hang out with for more than two minutes, never mind two hours.
1. Don't worry about lighting and expensive sets, just get yourself a camera and sound and you're in business.
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| 3 stars? Let's go burn his house down |
3. Plot? Keep it loose. This is more about a few weeks in someone's life than a developing story. In fact that is the story. Just create a whole bunch of situations and get them to act it out. But towards the end create a crisis which is a consequence of their lifestyle: all the better if it makes them look like a tragic victim.
To be honest I found this highly praised "authentic", "honest," "raw" film rather tedious. It's set in a cheap hotel block just outside Disney World Florida. (Yes we get the ironic juxtaposition). Halley is a permanent resident. Covered in tattoos and sporting coloured hair. She was working as a stripper, but hasn't been getting any shifts lately - or any other kind of work She's got a five year old daughter who runs wild and hangs out with the other kids in the hotel block. They all give the long suffering manager (Willem Dafoe) a hard time. The kids are always up to no-good and Halley can never pay her rent on time.
There were times when I was impressed, even amazed. Never more so than with the children's acting which was extraordinary, especially new comer Brooklynn Prince as Moonee. In fact, watching the kids is the best part of The Florida Project. A lot of the film is following them around and their actions can be hilarious, charming, disgusting and frightening, from spitting contests to arson.
You get the impression not many scenes are scripted. It's more a case of telling the actors the situation and letting them go for it. Often times it feels like you're watching an un-narrated documentary on the tenants of a cheap hotel, and if that's what it was I might be more impressed. But The Florida Project is more like an un-narrated documentary on the tenants of a cheap hotel, as enacted by folks from a whole other class.
Other than the director mentioned above, there are many other examples of this kind of film making: Ken Loach has been doing it for half a century and like any evangelical SJW his work always makes me feel just a a bit uncomfortable. I often wonder if it is an act of vanity on the part of the director as he or she demonstrates an ability to get down and dirty and muck in with the working class - or better still the virtually unemployable.It's a style of film making that can deceive you into thinking you're seeing more than you are. Worse, as evidenced by some of the drippy reviews out there, it's a style of film making that can make you feel you understand another class of people, who, under other circumstances (like reality for instance), you wouldn't hang out with for more than two minutes, never mind two hours.
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