The Florida Project (2017)
Country: US
Technical: col/2.39:1 111m
Director: Sean Baker
Cast: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Rivera, Valeria Cotto
Synopsis:
With the kids on their summer break, life is not straightforward for the embattled manager of a Florida motel, whose semi-permanent tenants have turned the premises into a de facto housing estate. In particular the daughter of one resident, a foulmouthed gutter trash single mum, and her playmates, are forever getting into trouble, and the child protection services are not far away.
Review:
The director continues his focus on America's underclass and its chaotic lifestyle, caught in a downward spiral around rent, drugs and scamming, all doing untold damage to the security and stability of the nation's future grown-ups. Again fixed, sharply focused widescreen shots take precedence over a handheld aesthetic, except in some of the motel room interiors, and the director is content to observe rather than judge, with the majority of screen time given over to the younger performers. All the same, the viewer is left with a mounting sense of distaste at a central character with few, if any, redeeming features, and at the brattish, antisocial behaviour of the children, so that the final 'escape' of the latter into the consumer paradise of Disney World feels like a cop-out.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.39:1 111m
Director: Sean Baker
Cast: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Rivera, Valeria Cotto
Synopsis:
With the kids on their summer break, life is not straightforward for the embattled manager of a Florida motel, whose semi-permanent tenants have turned the premises into a de facto housing estate. In particular the daughter of one resident, a foulmouthed gutter trash single mum, and her playmates, are forever getting into trouble, and the child protection services are not far away.
Review:
The director continues his focus on America's underclass and its chaotic lifestyle, caught in a downward spiral around rent, drugs and scamming, all doing untold damage to the security and stability of the nation's future grown-ups. Again fixed, sharply focused widescreen shots take precedence over a handheld aesthetic, except in some of the motel room interiors, and the director is content to observe rather than judge, with the majority of screen time given over to the younger performers. All the same, the viewer is left with a mounting sense of distaste at a central character with few, if any, redeeming features, and at the brattish, antisocial behaviour of the children, so that the final 'escape' of the latter into the consumer paradise of Disney World feels like a cop-out.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.39:1 111m
Director: Sean Baker
Cast: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Rivera, Valeria Cotto
Synopsis:
With the kids on their summer break, life is not straightforward for the embattled manager of a Florida motel, whose semi-permanent tenants have turned the premises into a de facto housing estate. In particular the daughter of one resident, a foulmouthed gutter trash single mum, and her playmates, are forever getting into trouble, and the child protection services are not far away.
Review:
The director continues his focus on America's underclass and its chaotic lifestyle, caught in a downward spiral around rent, drugs and scamming, all doing untold damage to the security and stability of the nation's future grown-ups. Again fixed, sharply focused widescreen shots take precedence over a handheld aesthetic, except in some of the motel room interiors, and the director is content to observe rather than judge, with the majority of screen time given over to the younger performers. All the same, the viewer is left with a mounting sense of distaste at a central character with few, if any, redeeming features, and at the brattish, antisocial behaviour of the children, so that the final 'escape' of the latter into the consumer paradise of Disney World feels like a cop-out.