spoilers and questons

"did julien kill that boy in the woods he was talking to at the beginning of the film, about the turtles?"
I asked myself the same thing actually. He was burying something, so I assume he did. It's odd though that it's never brought up again. After thinking about it though, it's possible that the boy may have just been a hallucination.

"the no-armed man was amazing!"
agreed. that scene with the drums had my jaw dropping. I wonder how Korine manages to find people like that. the same applies for the black albino freestyler - he was incredible too (if he was really freestyling... the rap could have been written into the script for all I know). it makes you think though... when Gummo came out (which I haven't seen) alot of people condemned Korine for using actual retarded and mentally ill people in the film, claiming that he was exploiting them. could the same be said about this film? the freestyler and the drummer I don't think of as exploitative because they were truly talented and confident individuals. but what about some of the extras at the party or the bowling alley? were they actually retarded or mentally ill? and if so, does that ammount to exploitation?

"tho the film was very disjointed and didn't really have a story, i feel the director did that on purpose to show the way the schizo's brain is also disjointed. "
I think so too. but beyond that, I thought it made for a uniquely beautiful and fascinating film as well. I went into the movie expecting no narrative and dizzying editing, as some reviewers have commented. after seeing it first hand though, I think Korine would have done the story a disservice if he filmed it in a conventional way. some of the scenes were so gorgeously filmed, the images are just ingrained in my mind. and the editing and soundwork too, it was so moving at times, and I couldn't imagine some of those scenes being done any other way.


now, some questions of my own:

many parts of the film have a very documentary-esque feel to them. in fact, given the low-fi quality of the film, I wouldn't be surprised if someone watching a portion of it might mistake it for a documentary. this makes me wonder - were there scenes where the characters didn't know they were acting? where Korine might have just pretended to be making a documentary to record footage of how actual people would react, and have the actors improvise to fit that? the thought first came to mind during the scene in the thrift store, although I see now that the actors there are in fact credited. what about the church though? there's no mention of a preacher or churchgoers in the credits. even the scene in the confession booth could have been "real," in that the camera could have been snuck in and the priest left to assume that there was in fact a schizophrenic boy confessing to him. and what about on the bus? at the very end? the man sitting next to Julien certainly seemed surprised and disgusted, and I can't help but think that the jumpy editing during that portion wasn't tailored to cut out mentions of his about the camera being present (although that's merely supposition).

what was up with the gasmask? was there any reasoning behind that, or did Korine just throw that in there to make the father look stranger or because he thought it was cool (like with the bunny ears in Gummo, which again, I haven't seen)?