Ken Park (2002)

Ken Park is about several Californian skateboarders' lives and relationships with and without their parents.

Directors:

Larry Clark, Edward Lachman (as Ed Lachman)

Writers:

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

Stars:

Adam Chubbuck, James Bullard, Seth Gray

2 nominations.

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

cunnilingus | sex with girlfriend's mother | hand job | cumshot | female nudity | 

---

Taglines:

Who are you?

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

UK distributor Hamish McAlpine dropped the film after Larry Clark punched him in the face at a celebratory dinner.

---

Quotes

Shawn: Do you love me?
Rhonda: No.

---

Crazy Credits

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

---

Connections

References Diff'rent Strokes (1978)

---

Soundtracks

Who Are Parents?
Performed by The Shaggs
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Music
Under license from BMG Strategic Marketing Group

User Reviews

Disappointed.

I didn't enjoy this latest offering by Larry Clark. It was as if he took Todd Solondz' Happiness, removed all wit, all semblance of plot and character development, and threw in a few explicit sex scenes for some shock value.

After watching Bully and Kids, I have come to accept Clark's style of storytelling, however I felt that this movie went nowhere. He's usually good at juggling multiple story lines that end up converging in a natural sense, but I felt that in Ken Park he didn't have a enough time to delve into any single character's storyline deep enough for the audience to become engaged with the characters, which to me is a crucial element in any good drama.

When the 1h10 mark came around, I was more alarmed by the fact that there were only 20 more minutes in which to resolve the story than by the incest and murder taking place on screen.

This failure was akin to Lukas Moodysson's A Hole in My Heart. I hope Larry Clark's work will only get better after this.

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace

Country:

USA Netherlands France

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 2003 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Ken Park

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,058,905

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinéa, Kasander Film Company, Lou Yi Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1