Spring Breakers | |
---|---|
Directed by | Harmony Korine |
Written by | Harmony Korine |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Benoît Debie |
Edited by | Douglas Crise |
Music by | |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | A24 |
Release dates | |
Running time | 94 minutes [2] |
Country | United States [3] |
Language | English |
Budget | $5 million [4] |
Box office | $31.7 million [5] |
Spring Breakers is a 2012 American crime comedy film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, and Gucci Mane. Gomez, Hudgens, Benson, and Korine portray four college-aged girls who go on spring break in St. Petersburg, Florida and meet an eccentric local drug dealer (Franco) who helps them in a time of desperation, and their eventual descent into a world of drugs, crime, and violence. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
Korine had devised the concept over several years prior to production, with fleeting ideas about the plot and what should transpire. His initial desire was to create a "sensory film" that was more about feeling than action and placed little importance on narrative or plot, the idea for which came later. [11] Once Korine developed the story's backbone, which takes place around the American spring break period, he traveled to Florida to write the screenplay. Production began in 2012, on an estimated budget of $5 million. It is one of Korine's first theatrical works to receive a wide release. [12]
Spring Breakers was released on March 22, 2013, in the United States by A24 and grossed $31 million worldwide, making it a resounding success considering the small budget. It received generally positive reviews from critics with praise for the acting and Debie's cinematography especially, with some also calling it a potential cult classic. [13] [14] [15] [16] The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. [17] Critics and scholars have read deeper meaning in the plot, commenting on its reflection of modern-day superficiality and the younger generation's self-destructive obsession with highly stylized, disposable pop culture media and sensory ephemera. [18] A sequel, Spring Breakers: The Second Coming, is in development. Jonas Åkerlund and Irvine Welsh initially intended to direct and write, respectively, until development had restarted, to which Korine would be open to directing and writing the sequel.
College students Brit, Candy, and Cotty often spend their time partying while their friend Faith attends a religious youth group. As their classmates head to spring break, they are stuck behind due to a lack of money. Desperate to make the trip, Brit and Candy, after getting high on cocaine, don ski masks and rob a local restaurant using hammers and realistic-looking squirt guns. They are assisted by Cotty, who drives (and later burns) the getaway car stolen from one of their professors. Cotty, Candy, and Brit divulge the details of their crime to a horrified Faith, who keeps quiet about it.
In St. Petersburg, Florida, the girls attend wild beach parties fueled by alcohol, drugs, and sex. After a particularly wild party, all four are arrested for using narcotics. They spend the night in a holding cell, but are bailed out by Alien, a rapper, drug hustler, and arms dealer. Alien charms Cotty, Candy, and Brit with his money and "bad boy" swagger, but Faith is extremely uncomfortable. Alien takes the girls to a local club frequented by gang members, where Faith becomes even more uneasy with his lifestyle. Alien attempts to seduce Faith and convince her to stay with him, using equal parts menace, threats, and tenderness, but Faith leaves, begging the others to come with her. They refuse, and she makes the trip home alone.
Alien takes the remaining girls to a strip club owned by his rival and childhood best friend, Big Arch, who warns Alien to stop selling drugs in his territory. Alien then takes the girls to his mansion, where he flaunts his drug money and cache of weapons, describing his life as the "American Dream". Brit and Candy grab two of his guns and threaten to kill him. Aroused, Alien fellates the gun and declares that he has fallen in love with the girls, claiming that they are his soulmates.
Alien arms the girls with pink ski masks and shotguns and takes them to his pool, where the girls ask him to play something inspiring on the piano. They sing Britney Spears' "Everytime", while a montage plays of them performing several armed robberies. While in Alien's car, they are approached by Big Arch and another member of his gang who threaten them and execute a drive-by shooting, wounding Cotty in the process. Alien promises to retaliate, but a traumatized Cotty comes to her senses and chooses to follow in Faith's footsteps, returning home. Brit and Candy stay behind and have three-way sex with Alien in his pool. The three of them decide to take revenge on Big Arch. In a flashforward, the two girls call home, promising to work harder and become better people.
In the present, the three travel in a motorboat to Big Arch's mansion. After they dock at the pier, Alien is immediately shot and killed by one of Big Arch's guards. Brit and Candy carry on, killing Big Arch's gang before finally confronting and killing Big Arch himself. During the assault and its aftermath, the camera pans over the dead bodies of Big Arch's gang while the girls speak in a voice-over, first heard earlier in the film, describing the beach's beauty and musing that they have discovered who they truly are. Brit and Candy, silent and wearing pensive, ambiguous expressions, drive home in Big Arch's Lamborghini. A final flashback shows the two girls kissing Alien's dead body before departing.
Additionally, Heather Morris, Ash Lendzion, and Emma Holzer appear as Faith's friends Bess, Forest, and Heather. Jeff Jarrett portrays a youth pastor and Russell Stuart appears as a DJ.
According to Harmony Korine, he wrote the film partially to make up for his own spring breaks, as he had been fully devoted to skateboarding, and therefore missed out on what he saw as opportunities for hedonistic pursuits. [19] Korine has referred to the film as a "beach noir". [18]
The original lineup of lead actresses was announced as Emma Roberts, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens. [20] Director Korine had purposely collected a group of well-known young actresses with a similar reputation to Roberts in Hollywood. [21] Ashley Benson was ultimately cast instead after Roberts dropped out due to her being uncomfortable with the film’s explicit sexuality. [22]
The film was shot in March and April 2012 in and around St. Petersburg, Florida. The exterior shots and some interior shots of the college where Gomez and Benson attend were filmed at New College of Florida, while the dormitory and classroom shots were filmed at Ringling College of Art and Design. [19] [23] Korine announced in 2013 he planned to "remix" the film's unused footage and alternate takes into an entirely new cut. [24]
The film score to Spring Breakers was composed by Cliff Martinez and Skrillex, marking the first scoring assignment for the latter. [25] [26] Skrillex was contacted after Korine sent music supervisor Randall Poster links to the electronica artist's music on YouTube. "I'm accustomed to being the oldest person at a gig," said Poster, "but when I went to see Skrillex at Roseland this year, it was dramatic. There were a lot of kids that looked like they were 15 years old. But I loved it. I truly loved it." [27] Magneto Dayo released the song "Spring Breakers", featuring Sage Odessa, which references the film and real-life spring break experiences. [28] The soundtrack to the film was released on March 19, 2013 by Big Beat Records and Warner Music. [29] [30]
A three-minute preview of Spring Breakers was released at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in May 2012.[ citation needed ] The entire film premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2012. [31] The film was released in New York and Los Angeles on March 15, 2013. [32] The film was released nationwide on March 22, 2013. [33] The film had a limited release in the U.K. on April 5, 2013. [34] The movie was also released in France on March 6, 2013 and was scheduled to be released in Australia in early March, however was pushed back to a release date of May 4.
Spring Breakers was released digitally on June 25, 2013, [35] [36] and on DVD and Blu-ray on July 9, 2013. [37]
Spring Breakers grossed $14,124,284 in North America and $17,600,000 in other countries for a worldwide total of $31,724,284. [4] In North America, the film opened to #6 in its first weekend with $4,858,944, behind The Croods , Admission , The Call , Oz the Great and Powerful , and Olympus Has Fallen . [38]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 199 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Spring Breakers blends stinging social commentary with bikini cheesecake and a bravura James Franco performance." [39] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating from film critics, it received a rating score of 63 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [40] Xan Brooks of The Guardian said the film is Korine's "most fully realised, purely satisfying feature film since Gummo ." [41] Emma Seligman of The Huffington Post described the film as " Scarface meets Britney Spears." [42] Oliver Lyttlelton of IndieWire gave the film a B, stating that the film would be a future cult favorite for "midnight moviegoers". [13]
Guy Lodge of Variety gave it a negative review saying, "this attractively fizzy pic may be a shock to the system for fans of teen queens Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, but remains pretty toothless titillation by its writer-helmer's standards." [43] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter noted that James Franco gives one of his more bizarre performances in his unpredictable career, saying "he's a cross between Bo Derek in 10 and Richard Kiel in Moonraker ." [44] Andrew Schenker of Slant Magazine gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. [45] Jamie Dunn of The Skinny gave it 4 out of 5 stars, saying: "If Michael Mann was to take a lot of hallucinogenics and shoot a Girls Gone Wild video, it might look something like this." [46] Richard Roeper of Rogerebert.com gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the character of Alien and the film's sense of humor. [47]
A24 began a campaign in September 2013 in support of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Franco's performance. This was preceded by the Hollywood.com website that produced a "For your consideration" poster in support of a nomination for Franco in March 2013. [48] On December 2, 2013, A24 published a YouTube video titled "James Franco - Consider this Sh*t" and also released print advertisements following the "Consider this Sh*t [sic]" theme. [49] Originally, Internet chatter considered the campaign a joke, but A24 has since made it clear that the campaign was indeed serious. [50]
Spring Breakers has since appeared on various retrospective "best of" lists, including one honoring the best films of the 21st century. In 2016, British film magazine Little White Lies placed the film at number 40 on their list of the 50 best films of the decade (so far). [51] In August of that same year, BBC Magazine conducted a poll on the 21st century's 100 greatest films so far, with Spring Breakers ranking at number 74. [52] In France, the magazine Les Cahiers du cinéma featured Spring Breakers on their March 2013's cover, [53] and placed it second on their December 2013 Top Ten chart. [54]
Spring Breakers was listed on many critics' top ten lists for 2013. [55]
On February 15, 2012, Korine contacted rapper Riff Raff about appearing in an upcoming film of Korine's which would later turn out to be Spring Breakers. [58] Once the trailer was released there was speculation that the character Alien was based on Riff Raff. [59] According to Franco, Alien is based on the underground rap artist Dangeruss, who has a cameo in the film. "Of course, Harmony and I looked at some of Riff Raff's videos as inspiration, but he was one of a number of people we looked at. I would say the biggest influence on the role was this local, Florida rapper named Dangeruss. He's fairly unknown, but he was down there in the place, living the life, and he became the biggest model for me, and he's in the movie." [60] After much back-and-forth between both camps about the issue, Riff Raff announced in July 2013 that he was suing the creators of Spring Breakers for $10 million for "sampling" his life without his permission or a proper producer credit. [61] However, a September 2013 search by LA Weekly for court documents resulted in no findings. [62]
Spring Breakers has generated debate and controversy among critics, with some regarding the film as sexist due to its objectification of women, while others viewed the film as a feminist or female-empowerment film. In regard to the former perspective, The Guardian suggests that the film "reinforces rape culture" and "turns young women into sex objects," [63] while other reviewers state that it "pushes booze-and-bikini hedonism to the extreme," [64] as the "camera glides up, down, and around these women's bodies like a giant tongue". [65] According to Rolling Stone , the film presents "a kind of girl-power camaraderie that could almost be called feminist," a result of the director's intent to "do the most radical work, but put it out in the most commercial way (...) to infiltrate the mainstream". [66] In his review of the film, Richard Roeper wrote:
"Korine's camera is nearly an intrusive weapon as he lingers over the soft, limber bodies of Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and his wife, Rachel Korine.... I think that's sort of the point. When a pre-med student on spring break loses her top, drinks to the point of passing out, and grabs a willing lugnut by the ears for six hours of anonymous fun, is she setting the woman's movement back 40 years, or taking charge of her life like any man would do at that age?" [47]
Franco won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (tied with Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club ), National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, and San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, while the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association nominated him for its Best Supporting Actor award. [67]
Group | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Outcome |
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Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards | December 19, 2013 | Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent | Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez & Vanessa Hudgens | Nominated |
60th Belgian Film Critics Association | January 4, 2014 | Grand Prix | Spring Breakers | |
2nd Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards | December 7, 2013 | Top Ten Best Films of the Year | Won | |
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards | January 2, 2014 | Best Supporting Actor | James Franco | |
Best Cinematography | Benoît Debie | Nominated | ||
26th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 16, 2013 | Best Original Score | Cliff Martinez & Skrillex | |
Best Supporting Actor | James Franco | |||
Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards | December 20, 2013 | Best Cinematography | Benoît Debie | |
14th Golden Trailer Awards | May 3, 2013 | Trashiest Trailer | Spring Breakers | Won |
29th Independent Spirit Awards | March 1, 2014 | Best Cinematography | Benoît Debie | Nominated |
5th Indiana Film Critics Association Awards | December 16, 2013 | Best Film | Spring Breakers | |
79th New York Film Critics Circle Awards | December 3, 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | James Franco | |
39th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | December 8, 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | Won | |
12th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | December 9, 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | |
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | December 13, 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | ||
12th San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards | December 15, 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | Won | |
17th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | December 17, 2013 | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | |
Capricho Awards [68] | December 18, 2013 | Best Make Out | Ashley Benson, James Franco & Vanessa Hudgens | Nominated |
48th National Society of Film Critics Awards | January 4, 2014 | Best Supporting Actor | James Franco | Won |
69th Venice International Film Festival | August 29-September 8, 2012 | Future Film Festival Digital Award – Special Mention | Harmony Korine | |
Golden Lion | Nominated | |||
MTV Movie Awards | April 13, 2014 | Best Kiss | Ashley Benson, James Franco & Vanessa Hudgens | Nominated |
A sequel, under the name of Spring Breakers: The Second Coming, was announced on May 6, 2014, to have been written by Irvine Welsh and directed by Jonas Åkerlund. Welsh's script focused on a set of Spring Breakers coming into conflict with Christian extremists, [69] and Wild Bunch originally slated the film to debut at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Upon the announcement, Franco released a statement saying that the sequel was "not being done with Harmony Korine or my consent" and that the producers were "capitalizing on that innovative film to make money on a weak sequel" and attempting to "make money off someone else's creativity". [70]
By 2017, the project had been shelved in favor of a digital series for short-video platform Blackpills; the series never materialized, however, and Blackpills itself shut down after less than two years online. As a result, development on Spring Breakers: The Second Coming had restarted, with Harmony Korine, who would direct the 2019 film The Beach Bum , being open to directing and writing the sequel.
Lawrence Donald Clark is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film Kids (1995) and his photography book Tulsa (1971). His work focuses primarily on youth who casually engage in illegal drug use, underage sex, and violence, and who are part of a specific subculture, such as surfing, punk rock, or skateboarding.
Kids is a 1995 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Larry Clark in his directorial debut and written by Harmony Korine in his screenwriting debut. It stars Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny, and Rosario Dawson, all in their film debuts. Fitzpatrick, Pierce, Sevigny, Dawson, and other newcomers portray a group of teenagers in New York City. They are characterized as hedonists, who engage in sexual acts and substance abuse, over the course of a single day.
Harmony Korine is an American filmmaker, actor, photographer, artist, and author. His methods feature an erratic, loose and transgressive aesthetic, exploring taboo themes and incorporating experimental techniques, and works with art, music, fashion and advertising.
Gummo is a 1997 American experimental drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine, and stars Linda Manz, Max Perlich, Jacob Reynolds, Chloë Sevigny, Jacob Sewell, and Nick Sutton. The film is set in Xenia, Ohio, a Midwestern American town that had been previously struck by a devastating tornado. The loose narrative follows several main characters who find odd and destructive ways to pass time, interrupted by vignettes depicting other inhabitants of the town.
James Edward Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Milk (2008), Eat Pray Love (2010), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). He has collaborated with fellow actor Seth Rogen on multiple projects, including Pineapple Express (2008), This Is the End (2013), Sausage Party (2016), and The Disaster Artist (2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Franco's performance in 127 Hours (2010) earned a Best Actor nomination at the 83rd Academy Awards.
Ashley Victoria Benson is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Hanna Marin in the teen mystery-drama series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017). Benson has starred in films, including Bring It On: In It to Win It (2007), Christmas Cupid (2010), Spring Breakers (2012), Ratter (2015), Chronically Metropolitan (2016), Her Smell (2018), and Private Property (2022). She has received various accolades, including four Teen Choice Awards, a Young Hollywood Award, as well as three People's Choice Award nominations.
Vanessa Anne Hudgens is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in Thirteen (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008), which brought her significant mainstream media success. The success of the first film led Hudgens to acquire a recording contract with Hollywood Records, with whom she released two studio albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).
Janet R. Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as a Times film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, Maslin helped found the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York. She is president of its board of directors.
A Crack Up at the Race Riots is a novel written by Harmony Korine, writer of such cult films as Kids and Gummo. The book was published in 1998 by Doubleday. A new edition was later published by Drag City.
Mister Lonely is a 2007 comedy drama film directed by Harmony Korine and co-written with his brother Avi Korine. It features an ensemble cast of international actors, including Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, Werner Herzog, James Fox, Anita Pallenberg and Leos Carax. The film follows a Michael Jackson look-alike joining a commune filled with other impersonators as they build a stage to attract people to see them perform. Mister Lonely garnered mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, grossing $393,813 against an $8.2 million budget.
Benoît Debie is a Belgian cinematographer. He is best known for his work on his frequent collaboration with Gaspar Noe, started in Irréversible (2002). He also works on feature including The Runaways (2010) and Spring Breakers (2012).
Fight Harm is an abandoned project by Harmony Korine filmed in 1999. The premise was to verbally provoke passers-by into a fight. The rules were Korine couldn't throw the first punch and the person confronted had to be bigger than Korine. To Korine, Fight Harm was high-comedy reminiscent of Buster Keaton. "I wanted to push humour to extreme limits to demonstrate that there's a tragic component in everything." Filmed in New York, the project was abandoned following the injuries and arrests Korine faced while shooting.
Horst Christian Simco, known professionally as Riff Raff, is an American rapper from Katy, Texas. He was originally managed by Swishahouse co-founder OG Ron C in 2011. After initially signing with rapper Soulja Boy's record label Stacks on Deck Entertainment, Simco signed with producer Diplo's record label Mad Decent to release his debut studio album, Neon Icon (2014). Despite lukewarm critical and commercial response, it mildly entered the Billboard 200 along with his second album Peach Panther (2016), which was released by Warner Records. Prior to its release, Simco entered a US$4 million joint partnership with Stampede Management and BMG for his Neon Nation label and production company. The joint deal fell apart in the wake of legal disputes with the publication of the 2012 film Spring Breakers.
Division Films is a Los Angeles-based film finance and production company established by Wicks Walker in 2012. The company's first film was Spring Breakers starring James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson. Walker and another producer greenlit the production after Benoît Debie was recruited as cinematographer to work alongside director Harmony Korine and with Selena Gomez added to the cast. Spring Breakers was selected for competition in the 69th Venice Film Festival and released worldwide in 2013.
Rachel Korine is an American former actress. Married to director Harmony Korine, she is best known for starring as Cotty in his 2013 crime film Spring Breakers as well as Betsy in Men Go to Battle (2015), and Junia in The Knick (2014–2015).
Manglehorn is a 2014 American drama film directed by David Gordon Green and written by Paul Logan. The film stars Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine, and Chris Messina. It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. The film was released in theaters by IFC Films on June 19, 2015.
James Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. He began acting on television, guest-starring in Pacific Blue (1997). He landed his breakthrough role in the comedy-drama television series Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000). After his film debut in Never Been Kissed (1999), Franco won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film and was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award and Primetime Emmy Award in the same categories for playing the eponymous actor in the 2001 television biopic James Dean. He went on to play Harry Osborn in the superhero film Spider-Man (2002), and reprised the role in its sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). For the last of the three, he garnered a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. His only screen appearance of 2003 was in the ballet film The Company. Franco directed and starred in the comedy The Ape (2005).
The Beach Bum is a 2019 American stoner comedy film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Jimmy Buffett in his final feature film, Zac Efron and Martin Lawrence. The plot follows the adventures of stoner poet Moondog (McConaughey) in and around the Florida Keys as he tries to finish his new novel and fight for the respect of his daughter and his share of his wife's estate after she dies in a car accident.
Aggro Dr1ft is a 2023 American experimental action crime film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring Jordi Mollà and Travis Scott. Its plot follows an assassin on a mission to kill a demonic crime lord. The film is presented entirely in infrared photography.
Spring Breakers (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack to the 2012 film Spring Breakers, released through Big Beat Records and Warner Records on March 19, 2013. The album consisted of an original score jointly composed by Skrillex and Cliff Martinez along with songs from electronic dance and southern hip hop artists.
Spring Breakers is either an inspired satire of the youth movie or the most irresponsible comedy mainstream Hollywood will never make.