Kids (1995)

An amoral, HIV-positive skateboarder sets out to deflower as many virgins as possible while a local girl who contracted his disease tries to save his next target from her same fate.

Director:

Larry Clark

Writers:

Larry Clark (story), Harmony Korine,

Stars:

Leo Fitzpatrick, Sarah Henderson, Justin Pierce

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leo Fitzpatrick	...	Telly
Sarah Henderson	...	Girl #1
Justin Pierce	...	Casper
Joseph Chan	...	Deli Owner
Johnathan Staci Kim	...	Korean Guy (as Johnathan S. Kim)
Adriane Brown	...	Little Girl
Sajan Bhagat	...	Paul
Billy Valdes	...	Stanly
Billy Waldeman	...	Zack
Javier Nunez	...	Javier
Luis Núñez	...	Luis (as Luis Nunez)
Christian Bruna	...	Christian
Alex Glen	...	Alex
Chloë Sevigny	...	Jennie (as Chloe Sevigny)
Rosario Dawson	...	Ruby

Storyline

Disturbing, dark, low-budget independent film about teen-agers in New York City. The story focuses on Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), a teen who has a goal to de-flower as many virgins as he can. When one of his old encounters discovers that she is H.I.V.-positive, after only one encounter with a guy, Telly remains undaunted.

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Plot Keywords:

new york | sex | new york city | virgin | teen | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 July 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Delikventi

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$7,417,210 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Guys Upstairs, Independent Pictures (II), Kids NY Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film featured new music from Lou Barlow and John Davis.

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Goofs

When the crowd is attacking the man, Harold has his shirt on in one shot, but not in the next.

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Quotes

[singing, drunk in a bathtub]
Casper: I'm Casper, the friendly ghost / The DOPEST ghost in town / All the bitches love me 'cause I'm fuckin' CASPER / The DOPEST ghost around.

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Connections

Referenced in Cookie Jar (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Dancing in the Dark"
Written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz
Published by Warner Bros. Inc. and Arthur Schwartz Music (ASCAP)
Performed by Sonny Rollins
Courtesy of Fantasy, Inc.

User Reviews

"When you're young, not much matters..." Fearless and extremely brutal and shocking. But stylish in it's raw nature

This controversial debut film from director Larry Clark was made from a screenplay written by Harmony Korine when he was eighteen. Many of the actors in the film were close friends of Korine and not actors at all, or if they were actors, it was to be their first film. And what a movie to start your career... many of the teenagers in this film never had successful careers afterwards. Leo Fitzpatrick, who plays the protagonist Telly, decided that he didn't like acting and Justin Pierce, who plays his best friend Casper, tragically would commit suicide a couple of years later. "Kids" today is still as controversial and as important as ever in the message that it implores. It's an honest and brutal film that holds no punches in covering a 24hr period in a group of teenagers lives one hot summer in Manhatten. The film has a very documentary style feel to it, which contributes to the authentic feel it has and the amazing performances from it's young cast are some of the best performances I've ever seen from teenage actors.

Telly, the films protagonist, is seventeen and the film begins with him seducing a much younger girl who can't be any more than thirteen or fourteen. He talks her into having sex with him, and as he explains in the narration, he has taken to only having sex with virgins. He refuses to wear condoms, so he tells himself that if he has sex with virgins he won't get diseases, and also it has become an obsession for him to deflower as many virgins as possible. Afterwards, he hits the streets where his best friend Casper is waiting for him. Telly then explains his recent 'conquest' in graphic detail and the pair set off for a day of drinking and smoking weed. Telly boasts to Casper that by tonight, he will have deflowered another girl, which he plans to do at a party. His next target is a sister of one of their friends, who is only thirteen. Meanwhile, Jenny, discovers that she is HIV positive. The only person she has ever had sex with was Telly, so she desperately tries to find him during the course of the day to tell him, and also to save the next girl from the same fate...

It's hard not to come away from this film feeling sickened, and at the same time, completely blown away. Larry Clark directs this brilliantly, throwing us from scene-to-scene carried along by the graphic and obscene language and conversations of the teenagers. It all looks improvised, but apparently the film follows Korine's script very closely. In that case then this was one very real and well written script. Leo Fitzpatrick plays one of the most foul and disgusting characters I've ever witnessed on screen. He is a total scumbag, and the only problem I had with this movie was how easily he was able to talk his way into the girls pants. In fairness, he is nothing to look at. And are the girls that naive and stupid that they'd fall for what he was telling them? OK, they are very young, but I'm the same age as Telly, and I can honestly say that if he were from the town I've grown up in, he would have gotten his head kicked in a long time ago. And that's for being the p**** that he is. Also, not one girl I know would have fallen for his charm - they'd have seen what he was before he even opened his mouth and I'd hate to be him then if he tried anything. But I couldn't help wondering watching this, don't people talk? Surely Telly would have a reputation by now.

The sex scenes are very graphic and realistic - they actually look real to be honest. The scene where Casper and the gang beat the man up in the park was very brutal, but could have been worse if they didn't have a stupid song playing over the entire scene. It's a shame that Leo Fitzpatrick decided not to pursue a serious acting career after this, because I sincerely think that he had talent. He was brilliant here, and how refreshing it was to have teenage actors playing the teenagers, and not some twenty-something year-olds that we usually see. The ending is brilliant, and the last line does pretty much sum up the entire movie. An excellent soundtrack accompanies the story and the superb cinematography; no one ever pays much attention to this but if you watch the film closely and forget what is going on, you'd almost forget that it was happening in New York City, because the camera pretty much stays on the ground giving us a 'fly-on-the-wall-view' feeling.

"Kids" is a very important movie that I think every teenager should see...well, not all of them. There are after all some young men like Telly and the others portrayed in this so a film like this might only serve to encourage them. But it's a shocking wake-up call to what can happen if you sleep around without proper protection - STD's and HIV. I really felt sorry for Jenny in this film, and the rest of Telly's victims who are unaware to what has happened to them. One has got to remember though when watching this that not all teenagers are like this. Only a small minority are as vicious and primitive as some of the characters portrayed in this film. "Kids" reminds us how vulnerable and confused teenagers really are, and how apathetic life is for them and I think Telly gets it perfectly here - "When you're young, not much matters. When you find something that you care about, then that's all you got."