“I like the way paper bags look. I like when a balloon gets aaaalll fucked up and pops and everyone gets scared,” say the teenage African American protagonist with the heavy Southern drawl in Harmony Korine’s new oddball short, “Act Da Fool,” he made to help promote the fall campaign for fashion company Proenza Schouler. “I think the world is a ball of shit,” she adds. “That’s why the dinosaurs died out. And everyone going to die soon.”
Uhhh, yeah. It’s another bizarre headscratcher, but it is strangely entertaining; another lo-fi exploration of seeing the beauty in darker things. Trying to explain what the short is about is kind of a fool’s errand, but do give it a shot, it’s basically this teenager narrating about her neighborhood and her life, how she gets drunk and fucked up with her friends and how that tells us about god and life. Or something.
Anyhow, the whole short can now be seen on the Proenza Schouler website. It’s no “Trash Humpers” (utterly brilliant), but it does have that found footage kind of scrappy aesthetic to it. Though it actually looks like it’s shot in 8mm rather than cheap-ass VHS tape. There’s also an interview with the designers Jack McCullough and Lazarao Hernandez who explain why they wanted Korine to make a film around their collection (they also loved “Kids”) and they describe the short as girls, “searching for happiness. They’ve been beaten down and disenfranchised and yet they still find something to believe in.” There’s also an interview with Korine.
In his typical opaqueness, when asked where he shot the short film he responds, “The projects of Nashville. A school for the blind. A school for kleptomaniacs.” In case you need more Korine in your life (you probably do), buy the “Trash Humpers” DVD when it’s released on September 21 by Drag City. There’s also an original soundtrack which includes the bizzarro songs and lullabies from the film that has been out since June.
Oh, btw, one last update. Got £7500 lying around? Korine is selling off 35mm prints of “Trash Humpers.” Even though it was shot and edited on VHS… (and prolly about £7200 more than the actual budget of “Trash Humpers”).
Uhh, are we sure Vincent Gallo didn’t put him up to this?