Paranoid Park (2007)

A fascinating aspect of "Paranoid Park" is that Gus Vant Sant shows mature fair-play about his traumatic failure with the "Psycho" remake (also photographed by Doyle). Most obviously with two scenes that directly revisit "Psycho": the car-driving scene under heavy rain with non-stop music on the soundtrack -- a sign of the ominous events -- and the magnificent shower scene, this time in extreme close- up and extreme slow-motion, with running water flowing through Alex's hair forming a strange, translucent octopus-like image of mesmerizing beauty, thanks to a sound mix of (apparently) rattling rain and loud bird sounds (that also inspired the classic Bernard Herrmann's staccato shower murder theme of "Psycho" -- remember that Norman Bates was a bird taxidermist).
In "Psycho" and in "Paranoid Park", the shower scenes are a body/soul-cleaning ritual and a turning point for the protagonists: for Marion Crane it's unexpected death (punishment), for Alex it's the decision to keep silent about his crime (self-punishment). As in "Psycho", there is the observation of guilt under "innocent" appearance (Alex, Marion Crane, Norman Bates all "look" perfectly innocent), and repressed sexuality (both Alex and Norman know they're attractive to women and sexually benumbed). And as in "Psycho", there's the unfailing intuition of a detective.
A special mention should go to the soundtrack in Paranoid Park, which is one of the strongest features of this film.My favorite use of music in the film is in the opening shots of skateboarders in the skate park (from which the film's title is taken). Warm electronic tones and burblings envelope a continuous slow-motion camera shot of skateboarders as they rove around the the curves and angles of the park and the effect is really quite magical.
The main weakness in the film is GVS's portrayal of women. It's obvious Alex doesn't give a damn about his hysterical cheer-leading girlfriend determined to get rid of her virginity, but did she have to be portrayed as an insufferable bore? And did Lauren McKinney, who plays the girl secretly in love with Alex, have to be so unflatteringly photographed? (compare her cruel close-ups with the slow-motion parade of gorgeous skateboarding ephebes at the school). And need I say Alex's mother is only seen out of focus, far in the distance or from behind? (this time around we DO get to see the face and body of a father in a GVS film -- and, man, it's a scary vision!).
Even if "Paranoid Park" isn't your cup of tea, one has to admit GVS is a rarity among established contemporary American filmmakers: he has, through the years, learned to acknowledge his thematic obsessions (young male beauty, the loneliness of non-conformism, the failure of the American dream and the traditional family, the complexity that lies under the apparent numbness and superficiality of American teens), and put them in films that -- while certainly not for all tastes -- get more satisfying and fascinating as they get more personal and self-revelatory by refusing to be "big".
3.5/5