‘Paranoid’ Evokes Strong Emotions
As a child, I remember feeling confused, paranoid and often scared during certain traumatic events in my life. Incidents or images are especially haunting to someone who isn’t old enough to have coping mechanisms in place. The mind of a teenager is a dangerous thing, and left unchecked can wreak havoc on one’s emotions.
Similar to his film “Elephant,” which won Cannes’ top prize, the Palm d’Or, in 2003, Gus Van Sant’s “Paranoid Park” explores these themes once again through the lens of a high-school teenager in Portland. Alex (Gabe Nevins) is a skateboarder who longs to skate with the much cooler, older kids at the East Side Park, better known as Paranoid Park to its patrons. One night, he decides to go to Paranoid Park by himself, and in the process accidentally kills a security guard.
Up until then, Alex’s life is pretty much that of any other teen. He has a superficial girlfriend who simply wants to “do it” with him because of the novelty of having a boyfriend, and his parents are in the middle of getting a divorce. Alex is plagued by guilt and paranoia over what he’s done, and when the police find his skateboard in the river and start asking questions at his school, suddenly, the world seems to be closing in.
The story is told mostly in flashbacks and out of chronological order, which many critics have responded to positively. It’s a good technique and Van Sant uses it well to confuse and mystify the viewer until that “ah ha!” moment when the viewer finally realizes why those actions occurred and why in that order. The film’s style, meanwhile, which intercuts video camera work with film, is a bit distracting, but well done. Probably the biggest complaint is that the film, like “Elephant,” is shot in a 4:3 ratio. Whether this is to confine the viewer to the frame or to make the viewer feel just as suffocated as the main character is beyond me. However, used to the standard 16:9 ratios, I found it a bit limiting and not terribly effective.
Overall, the film is well-made and well-acted by a cast of mostly new faces. Van Sant cast unknown high-school skateboarders in the starring roles to make the acting more authentic and believable. This works pretty well.
I thought “Paranoid” had a good story and was able to invoke a lot of authentic emotions from its audience. It never was boring, and although the movie doesn’t resolve itself well, it is effective as a story and as a feeling.
3 stars
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Wayne’s star system
1 star –> avoid at all costs
2 stars –> watch on TV when nothing else is on
3 stars –> rent it eventually
4 stars –> must see before you die
“Elephant” (IMDB)
“Paranoid Park” (IMDB)
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