Totally F***ed Up

Last updated
Totally F***ed Up
TFU Cover.jpg
DVD cover
Directed by Gregg Araki
Written byGregg Araki
Produced byGregg Araki
Andrea Sperling
Starring James Duval
Roko Belic
Susan Behshid
Jenee Gill
Gilbert Luna
Lance May
CinematographyGregg Araki
Edited byGregg Araki
Music by Marston Daley (song)
Al Jourgensen (song)
Frank Nardiello (song)
Distributed by Strand Releasing
Release date
  • August 19, 1994 (1994-08-19)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$101,071 [1]

Totally F***ed Up (also known as Totally Fucked Up) is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Gregg Araki. The first installment of Araki's Teenage Apocalypse film trilogy, it is considered a seminal entry in the New Queer Cinema genre.

Contents

The film chronicles the dysfunctional lives of six gay adolescents who have formed a family unit and struggle to get along with each other and with life in the face of various major obstacles. Araki classified it as "a rag-tag story of the fag-and-dyke teen underground....a kinda cross between avant-garde experimental cinema and a queer John Hughes flick." It premiered at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. [2]

Plot

The plot is concerned with six teenagers, four of whom are gay men, the other two a "traditional" lesbian couple. The plot is episodic, spliced with segments of other material and occasional tangents not central to the plot, but it mainly follows a linear structure. Araki has constructed the film in 15 parts, which is described in the opening titles.

The film details the lives and romances of the six characters, before ultimately culminating at a climax at which there is an epilogue-like reaction from five of the characters before the film ends and the blue font credits appear.

Cast

Production

Araki has said they shot on 16mm film without permits and that the film had "virtually no crew" and that he operated the camera himself, accompanied by only a sound person and producer/PA, and the cast. [2]

Style

The film makes extensive use of a handheld video camcorder, which one of the characters uses to provide insight into the lives of other characters through interview-like discussion. The technique became popular throughout the 1990s, evident also in such later films as Reality Bites (1994), American Beauty (1999) and The Blair Witch Project (1999). [3] Araki himself revisited the camcorder idea in his 1997 film Nowhere .

Home media

The film was released on Region 1 DVD on June 28, 2005. The film also has a region 2 release in the UK and Germany. These releases feature a commentary track with Araki, Luna and Duval. In 2024, The Criterion Collection announced that it would release the film as part of its Gregg Araki's Teen Apocalypse Trilogy set. The film was restored in 2K resolution. [4]

Year-end lists

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Chasing Amy</i> 1997 film by Kevin Smith

Chasing Amy is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series, the film is about a male comic artist (Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Adams), to the displeasure of his best friend (Lee).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg Araki</span> American film director

Gregg Araki is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his heavy involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His film Kaboom (2010) was the first winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm.

Teen film is a film genre targeted at teenagers, preteens and/or young adults by the plot being based on their special interests, such as coming of age, attempting to fit in, bullying, peer pressure, first love, teen rebellion, conflict with parents, and teen angst or alienation. Often these normally serious subject matters are presented in a glossy, stereotyped or trivialized way. Many teenage characters are portrayed by young adult actors in their 20s. Some teen films appeal to young males, while others appeal to young females.

<i>Menace II Society</i> 1993 film by the Hughes Brothers

Menace II Society is a 1993 American teen crime drama film directed by the Hughes Brothers in their directorial debut. Set in the Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, the film follows the life of Caine Lawson and his close friends. It gained notoriety for its scenes of violence, profanity, and drug-related content, and also received critical acclaim for the performances of Turner, Jada Pinkett, and Larenz Tate, the direction, and its realistic portrayal of urban violence and powerful underlying messages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Linklater</span> American film director, producer and screenwriter (born 1960)

Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016); and the romantic comedy Hit Man (2023).

<i>The Doom Generation</i> 1995 film

The Doom Generation is a 1995 independent dark crime comedy film co-produced, co-edited, written and directed by Gregg Araki, and starring Rose McGowan, James Duval and Jonathan Schaech. The plot follows two troubled teenage lovers who pick up an adolescent drifter and embark on a journey full of sex, violence, and convenience stores.

<i>Nowhere</i> (1997 film) 1997 film by Gregg Araki

Nowhere is a 1997 American black comedy drama film written and directed by Gregg Araki. Described by Araki as "Beverly Hills 90210 on acid", the film follows a day in the lives of a group of Los Angeles college students and the strange lives that they lead. It stars an ensemble cast led by James Duval and Rachel True.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strand Releasing</span> American film distribution company

Strand Releasing is an American film production company founded in 1989 and is based in Culver City, California. The company has distributed over 300 auteur-driven titles from acclaimed international and American directors such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Gregg Araki, François Ozon, Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Fatih Akin, Aki Kaurismäki, Claude Miller, Manoel de Oliveira, Gaspar Noé, André Téchiné and Terence Davies.

<i>Cronos</i> (film) 1992 film by Guillermo del Toro

Cronos is a 1992 Mexican independent horror drama film written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Federico Luppi and Ron Perlman. Cronos is del Toro's first feature film, and the first of several films on which he worked with Luppi and Perlman. The film was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. A stand-alone sequel, We Are What We Are, was released in 2010, with the only connection being Daniel Giménez Cacho reprising his role as Tito the Coroner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Duval</span> American actor

James Edward Duval is an American actor. He is known for his roles in Independence Day (1996), Go (1999), Donnie Darko (2001), May (2002), and the films of Gregg Araki.

<i>Smiley Face</i> (film) 2007 American film

Smiley Face is a 2007 German-American stoner comedy film directed and co-produced by Gregg Araki. Written by Dylan Haggerty, it stars Anna Faris as a young woman who has a series of misadventures after eating cupcakes laced with cannabis. The supporting cast includes Danny Masterson, Adam Brody, Rick Hoffman, Jane Lynch, John Krasinski, Marion Ross, Michael Hitchcock, John Cho, Danny Trejo, and Roscoe Lee Browne in his final film appearance. Smiley Face was the ninth feature film directed by Araki.

<i>Camp Nowhere</i> 1994 film by Jonathan Prince

Camp Nowhere is a 1994 American adventure comedy film directed by Jonathan Prince, written by Andrew Kurtzman and Eliot Wald, and stars Christopher Lloyd, Jonathan Jackson in his film debut, Wendy Makkena and M. Emmet Walsh.

<i>The Living End</i> (film) 1992 film by Gregg Araki

The Living End is a 1992 American comedy-drama film by Gregg Araki. Described by some critics as a "gay Thelma & Louise," the film is an early entry in the New Queer Cinema genre. The Living End was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992.

<i>Road Movie trilogy</i> Three 1974–1976 films by Wim Wenders

The Road Movie Trilogy is a series of three road movies directed by German film director Wim Wenders in the mid-1970s: Alice in the Cities (1974), The Wrong Move (1975), and Kings of the Road (1976). All three films were shot by cinematographer Robby Müller and mostly take place in West Germany. The centerpiece of the trilogy, The Wrong Move, was shot in colour whereas Alice in the Cities was in black and white 16 mm, and Kings of the Road was in black and white 35 mm film.

Andrea Sperling is an independent film producer based in Los Angeles. The films she has produced include Totally Fucked Up, But I'm a Cheerleader, D.E.B.S. and Itty Bitty Titty Committee and the Sundance Top Prize-winning Like Crazy.

<i>Kaboom</i> (film) 2010 film by Gregg Araki

Kaboom is a 2010 science fiction sex comedy mystery film written and directed by Gregg Araki and starring Thomas Dekker, Juno Temple, Haley Bennett, and James Duval. The film centers on the sexual adventures of a group of college students and their investigation of a bizarre cult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vapour Trail (song)</span> 1991 single by Ride

"Vapour Trail" is a song by British shoegaze band Ride. It is the closing track of the band's debut album, Nowhere (1990), released on Creation Records, and was later released as a single in the United States in early 1991. Written by lead guitarist Andy Bell, the song features a distinctive swirling guitar riff, a strong, fill-based drum beat, and a coda that includes a string quartet.

<i>The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug</i> 2013 fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a 2013 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The sequel to 2012's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, it is the second instalment in The Hobbit trilogy, acting as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Now Apocalypse is an American comedy television series that aired for one season of ten episodes from March 10 to May 12, 2019, on Starz. The series was written by Gregg Araki and Karley Sciortino. Araki also was director and executive producer alongside Steven Soderbergh and Gregory Jacobs. Starz canceled the series after one season on July 26, 2019.

<i>Sequin in a Blue Room</i> 2019 Australian coming-of-age independent drama film

Sequin in a Blue Room is a 2019 Australian independent queer coming-of-age, mystery and drama film directed by Samuel Van Grinsven, in his feature film debut. It was written by Van Grinsven and Jory Anast. The film stars Conor Leach in his feature film debut, Simon Croker, Anthony Brandon Wong and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor. It had its world premiere on 14 June 2019 at the Sydney Film Festival, where it won an award for Best Narrative Feature, and was released in theatres in August 2020. The film received generally wide acclaim, and American review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes certified the film fresh with a score of 92%. It was filmed on location in Sydney.

References

  1. "Totally F***ed Up (1994) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2021-03-19. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
  2. 1 2 Hernandez, Eugene (1 July 2005). "5 Questions for Gregg Araki, Writer/Director of "Totally Fucked Up"". Indiewire. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  3. Lukenbill, Mark (8 January 2020). "Totally Fucked Up". Screen Slate. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  4. "Gregg Araki's Teen Apocalypse Trilogy". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  5. Turan, Kenneth (December 25, 1994). "1994: YEAR IN REVIEW : No Weddings, No Lions, No Gumps". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 19, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2020.