★ 6 / 10
Adds some very interesting context to Kids.
TakeTwoReviews
I've not watched Kids since it was released. I was 18 and it shocked me. It shocked a lot of people. I'd not seen anything like it. No one had. What is this?…
I've not watched Kids since it was released. I was 18 and it shocked me. It shocked a lot of people. I'd not seen anything like it. No one had. What is this? Was a common question? Is this real? Was another. Whether you liked it or not, there's no denying it was fresh and thought provoking. We Were Once Kids is a documentary about the film, its cast and its production. I've wanted to see this for a while, but it's not easy to find in the U. K. In fact it's near impossible, I had to watch on DocPlay via a VPN. Kids is quintessential 90s, but as this doc explains, it's about youth born into 70/80s New York. A place to aspire escape from. That escape is skate culture, bringing people of all types together. One of the big questions of Kids was, where are the parents? These kids are wild! The truth is the parents were wilder. Drugged up or dead as crack exploded through the city. Much of this back story comes from writer Hamilton Harris, he had a smaller role in the film, but he's a big part of this documentary. Painting a vivid picture of a society that's the very definition of dysfunctional. So was it real? Yeah kinda. Some of these people were friends before the cameras rolled. More than that, they were family, replacing what was absent at home. It's fascinating to hear how organically it grew. Kids bonding over skating, weed, a simple need to have someone to hang out with. Hamilton, meets Harold Hunter, Harold introduces Harmony (Korine) a kid from out of town. Tobin Yelland is hanging around and introduces an older dude, Larry Clark into the mix. He runs a photography workshop, loves skateboards, wants to make a film. You can see where this is going. It's all a joke to begin. Larry's gonna shoot a movie, Harmony's gonna write it, we're all gonna be in it. Just a laugh right? Not everyone from the film speaks here and some like Leo Fitzpatrick who played Telly tellingly doesn't feature at all, others are referred to via archive footage alone and there's a lot of archive. Like Justin Pierce, who it's said always wanted to act, he's not interviewed as he took his own life at the age of 25, but he and Harold (who also died young) are the ringmasters, bringing kids to Larry to be cast in the film. It's weird, they know it's weird. Who's this old dude hanging around with a bunch of kids. But it's exciting for them and what else are they going to do? That is unless you're a girl. Highlyann Krasnow (great name) reads Harmony's script and clocks it for its "rape and misogyny". She wants no part, so the casting net widens. Enter people like Jon Abrahams, who talks about going with the flow, doing what Larry says, being stoned while shooting. Javier Nunez, no idea how old he was at the time but very young, smoking a load of joints then passing out. Honestly it's troubling. Most of these kids were from broken homes, vulnerable and it's clear they were taken advantage of. The shoot wraps. They watch a screener and have a party, sign some papers, except some cash. "We were left where we started from". The film goes to festivals and boom! What are these kids doing on screen? How old are they? Are they old enough? Larry Clark doesn't have the answers, because clearly some of them are not. To him, it's just a movie, but it's not is it. It feels real because so much of it is, there's no fluff, it's handheld lofi doc style screams authenticity and it connects. In America at least, audiences bond with it in the same way that those kids bonded before Larry even turned up. The fallout is intense. Some feed off it, like Harold who laps up the limelight, others feel exposed and used. Others choose to distance themselves from everyone. "I remember watching Harmony transform into a person I didn't recognise". The leads, Justin, Jon, Harold, Rosario Dawson, Chloë Sevigny, all have opportunities, it's a stepping stone. Everyone else, it's a dead weight. The movie is a hit. It makes millions. Guess who's cashing in... and who's not. It's a tragic story and very little positive comes from Kids. We Were Once Kids is enlightening, but it's not an easy watch and with that in mind, now I'm going to rewatch Kids.
Read full review
★ 8 / 10
The Shocking Truth
Ms_Carter
So after watching KIDS I was looking up Justin Pierce Because I was fairly sure I had seen him in some other movies Anyway this documentary about the movie…
So after watching KIDS
I was looking up Justin Pierce
Because I was fairly sure I had seen him in some other movies
Anyway this documentary about the movie came up
So I decided to watch it
(Not that it changed my opinion of KIDS)
But it did make me feel bad about what the actors went through
Larry Clark is a low life scum of the earth
Who took advantage of street kids with little or no education
It was tragic to learn of the deaths of Justin Pierce and Harold Hunter
Very informative and interesting documentary
I would highly recommend watching this
Strictly my opinion
But I think it's better than the actual movie.
Read full review
7.2/10
724
•••
I knew a couple of the "Kids" IRL in New York (ten years after the film came out). No matter how long a person lived in the city it was impossible to ever be the same as a born and raised "kid." The original film really brought that to life. I haven't finished this doc yet but it's pretty good so far.