At one point in my life, and probably yours, I woke up every morning feeling one of two ways. I either hated everyone and everything, or I thought everyone and everything hated me. It didn't help that my body appeared to be morphing at an ungodly rate. And the hormones...RAGING. I had no clue how to deal with any of this craziness, yet somehow, I thought I knew everything. There was no way in hell you were going to tell me any different. Privately, though, I was worried...really worried...about my entire existence. I was one of the most miserable, happy, wonderful, terrible people on the planet. In other words, I was a teenager. That's who these movies are about. Teenagers who think, and occasionally really have, the world crashing down around them.
Mi Vida Loca
(1993)
We chronicle Mousie (Seidy Lopez) and Sad Girl (Angel Aviles), a couple of female gang-bangers in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles who are also best friends. Things change when Sad Girl gets pregnant by Mousie's boyfriend. The girls become rivals and, well, the situation escalates. The film owes it's existence to the success of Boyz N the Hood and is one of many "hood movies" to be released throughout the rest of the 90s. Unfortunately, it's been largely overlooked despite being one of the better ones.
The Wooden Camera
(2003)
Lots of teens just want to feel powerful. The difference in the outcomes of our lives is often determined by what we do achieve this. Here is a film from South Africa that demonstrates this in poignant fashion. We follow another pair of best friends, Madiba (Junior Singo) and Sipho (Innocent Msimango). While just hanging out and goofing off, they find a camera and a gun. Madiba takes the camera, Sipho, the gun. These items then dictate the path of their lives.
Kinyarwanda
(2011)
Imagine being a regular teen, dealing with all of the things teens deal with, some of it going not so well, when a civil war seems to spontaneously explode all around. Imagine it being so bad neighbors are literally taking up arms and hunting you down. That's the situation in this film, set against the backdrop of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It tells three intertwining stories, two of them concerning adults. The bulk of the film, and certainly it's heart, is concerned with a teenager named Jean (Hadidja Zaninka), a half-Tutsi girl who has spent the day hanging out at her friend's house and returns home like lots of us have, a little after curfew. Unfortunately, it's a little too quiet which makes her suspicious. That's when she finds out the rest of her family has been slaughtered. Now, she must try to get somewhere safe and that's no easy task. (My full review)
With the exception of Mi Vida Loca which I've heard of but haven't seen in its entirety. The rest I haven't seen as I'm sure they're fine examples of teen angst.
ReplyDeleteThey are. The difference between these and most is these teens have tangible reasons to be angsty.
DeleteMi Vida Loca sounds great! I've not heard of any of these but still, learning about new film always good. The Wooden Camera reminds me a little bit of a combination of other films. Interesting picks.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonderful film. The Wooden Camera does have some clear American influences, but still manages to be its own thing.
DeleteI haven't seen any of these Dell but have heard of the first two. All sound very heavy, the last especially so, but worthwhile. I'll have to go on the hunt to see if I can find them.
ReplyDeleteI went a slightly different route particularly with my first which is a camp masterpiece.
Kitten with a Whip (1964)-After shivving a guard and trying to torch juvie hall, delinquent hellcat Jody (Ann-Margret) takes it on the lam roosting at the coop of rising politico David Patton (John Forsythe). Mad for a pad to lay low she puts the shine on him while throwing off lingo like "Why do you think you're such a smoky somethin' when you're nothin' painted blue?" Cool to her ridicule he gives her the gate. She splits but flies back to his igloo with two other hooligans and forces Dave to burn rubber down Tijuana way, it’s a bad scene though and they’re all slated for crashville. The tagline for this far-out opus? “She’s all out for Kicks…and every inch of her spells EXCITEMENT! She’s a real smoky kitten!” Its mad hipster crazy cool, baby!
The Doom Generation (1995)-Two disconnected teenagers pick up sexy drifter Xavier, who radiates a savage vibe and who leads them down a path loaded with sex and violence. As they travel through a series of small towns a cloud of doom hangs over them which no matter how they try clings to them.
Teen Wolf (1985)-Scott (Michael J. Fox) is a normal mopey teen mooning over a girl who doesn’t know he exists and playing on a losing basketball team. Then he begins to notice when he gets upset he starts to feel different. He father pulls him aside and shares something he’s kept from him. Surprise! He’s part werewolf. By letting his inner beast out he becomes popular, the girl notices him and the team starts winning but he has to control his anger or the wolf will take over. Silly but fun comedy is helped immeasurably by Fox’s charm in the lead.
Honorable Mention-To Sir, with Love (1967)-Unable to find a job in his chosen profession American Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) accepts a position teaching a group of angry rebellious teens in Eastern London. Using somewhat unorthodox methods he confronts their initial jibes and defiance ultimately garnering their respect and helping them work through their angst.
They are definitely heavy, but yes, they are well worth your time.
DeleteI've never heard of those first two. That first one sounds fantastic. Teen Wolf is a family favorite in my house. I can't count how many times I've watched that one.
I saw To Sir, With Love when I was like 11 or 12, but I don't remember much other than Sidney Poitier ripping a $50 bill in half. Definitely time to revisit it.
Kitten With a Whip is so entertaining because it is so ridiculous but you can tell that the filmmakers thought they were in earnest making a serious film about a wanton nymphet rebelling against society.
DeleteIt's from that weird period when old establishment Hollywood was trying to reach out to the youth market and having no clue how to do that resulting in trainwrecks like Wild in the Streets (dreadful), The Love-Ins (wretched), Angel, Angel Down We Go (mindnumbingly stupid) Skidoo (headache inducing), Hallucination Generation (just plain bizarre) and this which at least has the benefit of a young and beautiful Ann-Margret positively bursting with sensual carnality.
To Sir, With Love is definitely worth a revisit. I took a while to watch it sure that it would just be a retread of Poitier's too good to be true character from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner but he's much more textured in Sir.
I definitely plan on revisiting To Sir.
DeleteI haven't seen any of these but they all sound great, especially The Wooden Camera. I'll have to check these out.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see The Wooden Camera as an Indie Gem.
DeleteAll the films sound interesting, especially The Wooden Camera. Great picks!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hope you check it out.
DeleteWhat a great topic and all of these sound very interesting Dell, esp. Kinyarwanda. I'd recommend the French film Girlhood (Bande de Files) which is about African-French teenagers in the not-so-glamorous Parisian suburbs. It was one of my fave films of last year.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I hope you get to see Kinyarwanda. I have seen Girlhood, and almost included it. It's an excellent film. Great call.
DeleteHaven't seen any of these but they all sound great, especially The Wooden Camera. I'll watch it as soon as I can.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading your take on it.
DeleteI've only seen Kinyarwanda and WOW is that an emotional one. Wooden Camera looks really good. Gonna have to track that one down.
ReplyDeleteEmotional, indeed! So much of that film is just heart-wrenching. Would love to hear what you think of TWC.
DeleteNow these films are teen angst on a whole new level. I don't blame them at all for having teen angst, fight for your life is much more sympathetic than someone not being remembered for their16th birthday. I haven't seen any f these films but it just shows how much more difficult it is for kids who grow up where war is too frequent.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a whole new level of angst. It is incredibly more difficult for some teens depending on their circumstances. These films demonstrated that.
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