What follows is a series of random, often unconnected and irrelevant events involving the other residents of the town. What's the purpose of this? We learn shortly after that Solomon and Tummler have been selling the dead carcasses of these poor animals to the local butcher in exchange for money yes, they are THAT desperate. The scene that begins the film's central narrative is enough to provoke a few faint-hearted folks to exit the room or theater and walk far, far away it involves the drowning of cats. Just about every character would feel out of place in the world that we live in today but I imagine that's one of the many reasons why Korine decided to make the film in the first place.įor most of the movie, we follow Solomon (Jacob Reynolds) and his badass buddy Tummler (Nick Sutton). The tornado left behind countless oddballs, borderline-psychopaths, junkies, drunkards, and sexual deviants. Korine's central story exists purely in fantasy in his world, the town never recovered. Xenia, Ohio was struck by a disastrous tornado in the year of 1974 that destroyed many lives and many homes. It's different, but in my opinion, it's also a little bit special. But then again, 'Gummo' is a film that imitates life in the sense that it is made up of little scenes that tend to have little connection to one another. But to me, there's a deeper human understanding if only in specific scenes. Yes, it has all the necessities of a glorified exploitation film, and that may be all it is, to most people. It's a difficult film to like, but you know where I'm coming from it's also a difficult film to simply dismiss. I did some research on the filmmaker before pursuing any of his cinematic offerings and I feel that this film is nothing more than an honest representation and approximation of the man's trippy, weird imagination. In fact, I'm going to come right out and say it I liked Harmony Korine's 'Gummo'. After seeing 'Gummo', I can safely say that, for now, I'm on the side of the second group of (mentioned) people there seems to be more at work here than just a scrapbook of pure shock value. Then, there are others who believe his films possess a more emotional core. Most people think Korine is simply a madman with a camera intent on shocking us and nothing more. It doesn't help that his debut as a filmmaker, 'Gummo', was met with even more polarized reactions from movie-goers and critics everywhere. Harmony Korine has been hit with some pretty harsh criticism ever since he wrote 'Kids' for Larry Clark, who directed it.

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