Paranoid Park

Rating R Formats DVD Genre drama Starring Gabe Nevins, Taylor Momsen, Jake Miller Directed by Gus Van Sant Publisher IFC Films

Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park tells the story of an unsolved murder and how a young high school student is wrapped up into it. Alex is a skater, who has just discovered Portland Oregon’s famed Paranoid Park skate park. One night he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The film’s structure is deeply rooted in Alex’s experience as he deals with confronting the truth. It unfolds selectively as Alex slowly comes to terms with what he did and what happened that fateful night.

Van Sant is doing a lot more to put you in Alex’s point of view, with meandering shots of skaters and blurry shots, over and underexposed sections, and editing that keeps reliving the same shots over and over.

The first shot has a schizophrenic feeling to it, both in the visual and the sound work. The audio cuts between two different songs, one being slow and lazy the other kinetic. It acts as an unsettling introduction to the world of paranoia.

The film’s unwinding of the truth is laced through a realistic teen drama, by a filmmaker who explores the subject very well. Alex struggles with this murder as he loses his virginity to a girl who seems to want him as property more than for who he is.

Isolation is the most prominent theme that Gus Van Sant is talking about, the isolation of being a teen, the isolation of guilt, and the isolation of paranoia. Alex is a young man trying to find out who he is in a very lonely world.

Anytime he tries to talk to someone about what happened, he never ends up saying it. His connection to his mother and father are distant at best. His little brother is preoccupied by his own experience. His girlfriend doesn’t really listen to him normally, and his friends are so self-absorbed with their image there isn’t time.

Ultimately, he sits down and writes a letter to no one to hash out what happened, to unburden his soul. The catharsis felt  is important, but ultimately the film’s isolation theme is what Gus Van Sant is getting at.

Paranoid Park is filled with a pop soundtrack, which gives the feeling of one depressing music video after the other. Elliot Smith, the king of the poppy, depressing, isolationist music leads the way and perfectly scores the emotional quality of the film.

The only downside is that the film relies too heavily on the emotional tenor brought by the music and not enough on the actors, who are decent, at best.

The DVD contains no special features, which is a shame because a director commentary track would supplement the film well. If you love Gus Van Sant’s films, it’s worth buying. If not, rent first and then decide.