Just saw this movie for the first time, thought it was alright (i liked Kids and Bully better). What was the deal with the threesome at the end??? I understand Larry Clark trying to "push the envelope," (he made this clear the whole movie) but I felt like he just threw in the threesome to connect everyone's story together and add some more graphic sex. It came completely out of left field. Anyone feel differently?
shareNo I totally agree with you, much preferred bully, haven't seen kids; some scenes in this were ridiculous, not a prude in any way here, but close ups of penis while urinating, why bother?
shareI agree with both of you. I did care about the characters, well most of them but there were some unnecessary scenes.
Like the dad taking a leak while drinking a beer. I get the scene but how did it further the character development to see the man actually take a piss?
I liked certain parts of the film but others were really so heavy handed it felt like a step back from Bully. I was totally absorbed by all of the characters in Bully but I had alot of high hopes for Ken Park and I was let down.
The only scene that didn't offend me was the Mom and the daughter's boyfriend, I thought that whole part of the story, sex and all, was interesting and valid reason to show what it did. There was a similar and important scene in Y Tu Mama Tambien.
www.myspace.com/deadravensrock
www.youtube.com/nightofthelepus
I think its great that you mentioned the scene in Y Tu Mama Tambien (much better movie) because I think it was the polar opposite of this threesome scene. I think the scene in Y Tu Mama Tambien was the perfect climax in terms of the relationship between all three characters. The threesome scene in Ken Park was the FIRST TIME all three characters interact. It's funny how both scenes come at the end of their respective movies; one effectively gave closure to an intricate relationship between the three main characters, and the other was a lazy attempt to actually create a relationship between the three main characters
shareActually I was referring to the scene in Y Tu Mama Tambien when Diego Luna's character went down on the woman and then they sex and he came quickly and comforted him, almost jokingly because he was so quick and nervous.......the correlation between that scene in Y Tu Mama Tambien to Ken Park is when the young skater guy went down on the beautiful mother and she talked him through, almost mothering to him because he was also seemed timid and inexperienced.
But what you said about the ending threesome in Y Tu.. makes a lot of sense because those 3 characters did have time to develop as opposed to the haphazard ending of Ken Park.
www.myspace.com/deadravensrock
www.youtube.com/nightofthelepus
I'd have to disagree there. I thought the lack of connection between the characters until the penultimate scene (the threesome) was to the film's credit. i get tired of 'character arcs' - i thought we had a far stronger impression of these four characters through the economy of action and dialogue and intensity of the performances.
i also get tired of every single thing in a film being 'necessary to the story'. i love it when things just happen for no reason in a film (a tradition which goes back to the nouvelle vague and before that I guess to silent comedy). as in all my favourite films, the action was unpredictable.
That point aside, i think seeing the father pissing was necessary to his character development (the slobbishness, the abandonment, the self-loathing...)
You say haphazard, i say fresh and innovative :)
"What are we? Lumberjacks??" - Reverend Jim Ignatowski
Did you not hear the whole "Island of Paradise" Speech during that scene? It's essentially the essence of the entire movie! That scene is the most important scene in the film.
~faith in chaos~
It is the most important scene. Everything previous could have been other similarly disfunctional stuff.
The scene shows there is hope for at least some of the new generation who'll survive without being screwed up.
Their relaxed, friendly, playfulness is he antithesis of what's gone before.
Their talk, laughter and comfortable affection shows their minds are healthy enough to enjoy sex without hidden agenda, without betrayal, without guilt ... and it forms a feedback loop - feeding the same qualities and attributes that should help them get through life undamaged.
It had to be more than two or we would have assumed the scene to be part of a traditional romantic denouement.
Dear lord you think those kids were represented as healthy?
So you think the parents were all what you would consider f---ed up when they were kids? A bunch of psychopaths for no apparent reason? I think the kids were obviously onto the same path as the adults. They'll most likely want to reclaim their youth when it goes, the same way the parents did.
The parents screwed their kids up and their kids will do the same (PS orgies aren't healthy activities for teens).
BUGS
I saw the threesome as an act of all three of them reclaiming their sexuality as opposed to be repressed by (facets of) it.
Peaches: reclaims her sexuality after there are insinuations that her dad was in possession of it for far too long.
Claude: reclaims his sexuality after escaping the one-sided sexual tension between he and his dad and the pressure of trying to disprove that he's homosexual. In fact, there is slight suggestion that he is bisexual and he isn't afraid to express it. While he is kissing Peaches, he's simultaneously grabbing Shawn's leg and pulling it towards him.
Shawn: reclaims his sexuality by being in charge of it again. Sex isn't on his gf or her mom's terms. He isn't under the watchful eye of a dad/husband in the sidelines and he doesn't feel emotionally stifled (where as before, even though there are implications that he is falling in love with the mom, he has very little outlet to express those feelings.)
The threesome is an uncensored outpouring of emotion from three individuals who became accustomed to bottling up how they felt.
I believe it was a pivotal moment in the film.
the threesome at the end of Ken Park most certainly represented the solace and escape the characters found in each other. Look how happy they are during the threesome...look how unhappy they are separate and with their parents.
not too hard to understand, but people are so quick to label it as stupid and random. THINK.
The threesome was not the clue, it was just casual sex. The clue was they had all forgotten about Ken Park
shareYes,, the threesome was the symbolic that they wear going to be alright.. The way the narrative and the "threesome" scene its self played off, it was not there first time partaking in something like that and likely won't be the last.
Its been a long time since I have seen this movie, but where is the location of the threesome at?? whose house or??
i get your point, but i think making that scene as explicit as they did was completely unnecessary, and i believe that's just Clark's way of giving the film an "aww *beep* factor.
------------------------------------
"Hey Tina, you fat lard! Come get some dinner!"
How can you make it explicit without you going aaaawwwggh then?
That's what I was thinking when watching this movie. You don't have to think porn and money and prostitution and stds when watching sex. It can also be about procreation.. and LOVE.
Like a few above me stated, I think that the threesome scene in the movie is actually the perfect ending. The first time I saw the movie, I agree that it appeared to just be a way to "push the envelope" further, but after watching it a second and third time, I've realized it's symbolism. All three characters use that threesome as a means of escape. For Shawn, it's escape from the love triangle that he's become involved in. For Claude, it seems to be the first place he goes after he runs away from home. And for Peaches, it's an escape from her father's clutch and a place for her to be a teenager again. The scene ties together the story lines of all three characters and allows the viewer to see that while each character's situation is unique, they all share the common lust.
share