Ken Park (2002)

It's about several Californian skateboarder's life and relationships with and without their parents.

Directors:

Larry Clark, Edward Lachman

Writers:

Harmony Korine (screenplay), Larry Clark (based on stories and characters by)

Stars:

Adam Chubbuck, James Bullard, Seth Gray

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Chubbuck	...	Ken Park
James Bullard	...	Shawn
Seth Gray	...	Shawn's Brother
Eddie Daniels	...	Shawn's Mother
Zara McDowell	...	Zoe (as Zara Mcdowell)
Maeve Quinlan	...	Rhonda
Stephen Jasso	...	Claude
Wade Williams	...	Claude's Father (as Wade Andrew Williams)
Tiffany Limos	...	Peaches
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Peaches' Father (as Julio Oscar Mochoso)
James Ransone	...	Tate
Patricia Place	...	Tate's Grandmother
Amanda Plummer	...	Claude's Mother
Mike Apaletegui	...	Curtis
Harrison Young	...	Tate's Grandfather

Storyline

Ken Park focuses on several teenagers and their tormented home lives. Shawn seems to be the most conventional. Tate is brimming with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother. Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They're all rather tight, or so they claim. But they spend precious little time together and none of them seems to know much about one another's family lives. This bizarre dichotomy underscores their alienation # the result of suburban ennui, a teenager's inherent sense of melodrama, and the disturbing nature of their home environments.

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Plot Keywords:

teenager | skateboarder | sex | california | alcoholic father | 

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Taglines:

Who are you?

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA Netherlands France

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 2003 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Ken Park - Quem és Tu?

Filming Locations:

San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,135 (Hong Kong) (13 June 2003)

Gross:

$54,550 (Hong Kong) (11 July 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Busy Bee Productions, Cinéa, Kasander Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 98 min (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a real Ken Park who was a professional skater in the 1980s.

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Quotes

Claude's father: You can pick your friends but you can't pick your family.

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Crazy Credits

The letter K is shown backwards in the credits, except in the first word of the film's title.

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Connections

References Diff'rent Strokes (1978)

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Soundtracks

"What a Nigga Know"
Performed by KMD
Written by Daniel Dumile (as D. Dumile)
Lord Dihoo Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Sub Verse Music Inc.

User Reviews

overwrought

ken park or krap nek as they say is basically four episodes with each episode dealing with an individual's family situation or lack thereof. These episodes are inter-cut within each other.

Though Larry's Clark's movies deal with very explicit, or "realistic" subject matter his presentation is overwrought. Characters are more caricatures than 'real' people. The zealot father, the aging housewife, the weird kid, the father with unrequited love. The scenes with these characters were hard for me to take in. The actions and reactions they take seemed so hackneyed to me. Could it be that Larry Clark is developing a "larry clarkness"? a style? As one who is purported to be a breaker of styles and conventions this movie was shot pretty conventionally with lots of sex. I wasn't too impressed with this effort. Some shots, as Larry Clark says, are there for realistic purposes but I just found it to be sensationalistic and unnecessary.

The cinematography was great that is probably due to the Ed Lachman. The blue and red tinge really added to their respective scenes. Probably use of tungsten for outdoors and daylight inside.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I could swear Larry Clark is moving from realism to symbolism. In one scene he has the family gather together on the front steps. Your good Ole' American suburban family, full of deceit and infidelity but putting up a great face none the less. It seemed like a tableau.