Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Adam Chubbuck | ... | ||
James Bullard | ... | ||
Seth Gray | ... | ||
Eddie Daniels | ... |
Shawn's Mother
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Zara McDowell | ... |
Zoe
(as Zara Mcdowell)
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Maeve Quinlan | ... | ||
Stephen Jasso | ... | ||
Wade Williams | ... |
Claude's Father
(as Wade Andrew Williams)
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Tiffany Limos | ... | ||
Julio Oscar Mechoso | ... |
Peaches' Father
(as Julio Oscar Mochoso)
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James Ransone | ... | ||
Patricia Place | ... |
Tate's Grandmother
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Amanda Plummer | ... |
Claude's Mother
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Mike Apaletegui | ... |
Curtis
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Harrison Young | ... |
Tate's Grandfather
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Ken Park focuses on several teenagers and their tormented home lives. Shawn seems to be the most conventional. Tate is brimming with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother. Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They're all rather tight, or so they claim. But they spend precious little time together and none of them seems to know much about one another's family lives. This bizarre dichotomy underscores their alienation # the result of suburban ennui, a teenager's inherent sense of melodrama, and the disturbing nature of their home environments. Written by Bubba
ken park or krap nek as they say is basically four episodes with each episode dealing with an individual's family situation or lack thereof. These episodes are inter-cut within each other.
Though Larry's Clark's movies deal with very explicit, or "realistic" subject matter his presentation is overwrought. Characters are more caricatures than 'real' people. The zealot father, the aging housewife, the weird kid, the father with unrequited love. The scenes with these characters were hard for me to take in. The actions and reactions they take seemed so hackneyed to me. Could it be that Larry Clark is developing a "larry clarkness"? a style? As one who is purported to be a breaker of styles and conventions this movie was shot pretty conventionally with lots of sex. I wasn't too impressed with this effort. Some shots, as Larry Clark says, are there for realistic purposes but I just found it to be sensationalistic and unnecessary.
The cinematography was great that is probably due to the Ed Lachman. The blue and red tinge really added to their respective scenes. Probably use of tungsten for outdoors and daylight inside.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I could swear Larry Clark is moving from realism to symbolism. In one scene he has the family gather together on the front steps. Your good Ole' American suburban family, full of deceit and infidelity but putting up a great face none the less. It seemed like a tableau.