Ken Park
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| Ken Park | |
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Larry Clark Ed Lachman |
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| Produced by | Pascal Breton Victoria Goodall |
| Written by | Larry Clark Harmony Korine |
| Starring | Adam Chubbuck James Bullard James Ransone Stephen Jasso |
| Cinematography | Larry Clark Ed Lachman |
| Editing by | Andrew Hafitz |
| Distributed by | Vitagraph Films |
| Release date(s) | August 31, 2002 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | United States Netherlands France |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.3 million |
| Gross revenue | $447,741 |
Ken Park is a controversial 2002 drama film. The screenplay was written by Harmony Korine, who based it on Larry Clark's journals and stories. The film was directed by Larry Clark and Ed Lachman.
The film revolves around the abusive home lives of several teenage skateboarders and their friends, set in the city of Visalia, California. The little-used tagline of the film is "Who Are You?"
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[edit] Plot
The film begins with the public suicide of Ken Park at a local skateboarding park. The film features four friends: Shawn, Tate, Peaches, and Claude. It covers their interactions with their families (or lack thereof), and their friends in a dysfunctional society. The film depicts controversial topics such as sexuality, sexual experimentation, incest, teenage suicide and, to a lesser extent, murder. The film also contains scenes involving under-age drinking and smoking, including drug use.
The title "Ken Park" does not refer to a location, but rather to a character in the film, whose death is used as a plot device at the end of the film. Although never directly stated, Ken Park appears to be set over several days, spanning Friday to Sunday. The plot of Ken Park is non-linear, and often switches between different characters over this time period.
[edit] Cast
- Adam Chubbuck as Ken Park
- James Bullard as Shawn
- James Ransone as Tate
- Stephen Jasso as Claude
- Tiffany Limos as Peaches
- Eddie Daniels as Shawn's Mother
- Seth Gray as Shawn's Brother
- Maeve Quinlan as Rhonda
- Patricia Place as Tate's Grandmother
- Amanda Plummer as Claude's Mother
- Julio Oscar Mochoso as Peaches' Father
- Zara McDowell as Zoe
- Larry Clark as Hot dog vendor
[edit] Production
Clark attempted to write the first script for Ken Park, basing it off real life personal experiences and people he grew up with. Unable to write a script he found satisfactory, he hired Harmony Korine to pen the screenplay. Clark ultimately used most of Korine's script, but rewrote the ending.
The film was given a $1.3 million budget. The arrangement was to film using digital video, but Clark and Lachman instead used 35mm film.
[edit] Distribution
[edit] United Kingdom
The movie was not shown in the United Kingdom after director Larry Clark punched and attempted to strangle Hamish McAlpine, the head of the UK distributor for the film, Metro Tartan. Clark is alleged to have been angry over McAlpine's remarks about 9/11. Clark was arrested and spent several hours in custody, and McAlpine was left with a broken nose.[1]
[edit] United States
The movie has never been issued in wide release in the United States. It has not found a distributor since its initial showing at the Telluride Film Festival in 2002.
[edit] Australia
In Australia, the film was banned for its graphic sexual content. In response to the ban, a protest screening was held which was shut down by the police.[2].
[edit] New Zealand
In New Zealand, the film was classified R18 and limited to film festival screenings or viewing for a tertiary film studies course.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Article in the BBC Collective
- ^ Police quiz critic after raid By Kirsty Needham, The Age, July 4, 2003. Accessed May 30, 2007
[edit] External links
- Ken Park at the Internet Movie Database
- Inside Film Magazine's Phillip Cenere reports on Australian ban of Ken Park
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