"Through the sieve" is a look into the overlooked, the independent releases, foreign obscurities, mythical filmlore or the forgotten to find out wh
This time we boil down the Columbian Indie Flick "Los Nadie", while cutting out all the goddamn edgyness to find out how the less edgy viewer can relate.
Los Nadie (2016) dir. Juan Sebastian Mesa
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Subculture can be anything really, if we were to follow the ambiguity of its definition. We all move around in groups within a larger group wether it be cliques, family units or social ranks. By association of media representation "subculture" reminds of Harajuku girls in Lolita, Skaters in Thrasher and Punks with Mohawks. Point is we think of the stereotype, partly because that is all that we see and partly because we can not identify with these groups enough to see more.
So when watching a film like "Los Nadie" with its tatooing, substance abusing, metal hearing, punk wearing, government revolting, street circusperforming and "fuck the system"-ing teenagers, I couldn't help but roll my eyes sometimes and cringe at all the forced edgyness displayed infront of me. It just felt too much like one cliche after another. And yet, after the while the film grew on me.
"This is literally "Kids" but in Columbia."
Now for those of you who dont know what I'm talking about, "Kids" is the cult film of director Larry Clarke about a group of misguided, partly AIDs ridden teenagers in New York and also a Los Nadie" centres, famous for its controversial depiction of 10-14 year olds doing some messed up shit and for catapulting Chloe Sevignys career as staple indie darling. Alas, this review is not about Kids but Los Nadie, but by contextualizing Kids I can also simultanuously contextualize Los Nadie.
You see, like Kids Los Nadies subject group is in the underbelly of society, the young (albeit older than the, uh, kids in "Kids") in unstable familys, not in school nor employed and henceforth floating in the standards society has set for them. Yet rebellious and relentless attitudes are not cause and effect of difficult upbringing and times
For the most part, the film is shot handheld, with an instable camera that mimics the documentary style. Again here there are comparisons that can be drawn to Kids, as the instable camera of Los Nadie evokes the same feeling of unrestlessnes throuought the film. In itself, there was nothing revolutionary however the cinematographer did a good job, almost all shots look crip and well composed. Where Mesa difficulties lie is in the over emphasis . back on shots wasted in cliched shots of paint like the view from the top of the hills in the backdrop or focusing on the paint dripping from a wall. At the same time these beautiful frames are rare, and the film is mostly cluttered with the visual noise of the city and a camera that just wont hold still. But it makes sense, in a film that centres around the chaos of their disposition, and the little moments of joy that are there despite.
So when watching a film like "Los Nadie" with its tatooing, substance abusing, metal hearing, punk wearing, government revolting, street circusperforming and "fuck the system"-ing teenagers, I couldn't help but roll my eyes sometimes and cringe at all the forced edgyness displayed infront of me. It just felt too much like one cliche after another. And yet, after the while the film grew on me.
"This is literally "Kids" but in Columbia."
Now for those of you who dont know what I'm talking about, "Kids" is the cult film of director Larry Clarke about a group of misguided, partly AIDs ridden teenagers in New York and also a Los Nadie" centres, famous for its controversial depiction of 10-14 year olds doing some messed up shit and for catapulting Chloe Sevignys career as staple indie darling. Alas, this review is not about Kids but Los Nadie, but by contextualizing Kids I can also simultanuously contextualize Los Nadie.
You see, like Kids Los Nadies subject group is in the underbelly of society, the young (albeit older than the, uh, kids in "Kids") in unstable familys, not in school nor employed and henceforth floating in the standards society has set for them. Yet rebellious and relentless attitudes are not cause and effect of difficult upbringing and times
Like it's characters, the film feels like it's aimless. It's missing the commentary. Where Kids had one more central issue of drugs and STD that put hurdles infront of all characters this film brushes on too many social issues; class division, political upheaval, drugs, crime, family life etc With too many sides shown but not explored deeply enough, it doesn't make a statement about anything specific. Characters take drugs but don't necessarily feel the consequences. Some characters have difficult family lives, but there is no neccessary resolve shown of these conflicts. In fact, there is no resolve to any conflict.
For the most part, the film is shot handheld, with an instable camera that mimics the documentary style. Again here there are comparisons that can be drawn to Kids, as the instable camera of Los Nadie evokes the same feeling of unrestlessnes throuought the film. In itself, there was nothing revolutionary however the cinematographer did a good job, almost all shots look crip and well composed. Where Mesa difficulties lie is in the over emphasis . back on shots wasted in cliched shots of paint like the view from the top of the hills in the backdrop or focusing on the paint dripping from a wall. At the same time these beautiful frames are rare, and the film is mostly cluttered with the visual noise of the city and a camera that just wont hold still. But it makes sense, in a film that centres around the chaos of their disposition, and the little moments of joy that are there despite.
Same with
kids my biggest irk would perhaps be that , "these kids are just too damn
edgy". Yet punk is the subculture that is portrayed and the longer you
watch the film, you realize its not meant to be pretentious or angst but that
these kids really are rebelling against society. In this helps especially the
context of the civil warfare, an aspecet that is only shown subtly. Instead the
focus is on the family life of the characters.
The Verdict
Granted
its nothing so original, but the presentation was entertaining and well made. Mesa captures tastefully captures the attitude of this group of youths with a distance to commentary allows viewers to be thought provoked rather than lectured.
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