We Hope So
The problem with being on the outer fringes of the cinema world doing your own freaky thing is that it’s a fine line between being interesting and bizarre and just plain predictable and bizarre. But leave it to Harmony Korine, we never know what that guy is gonna do next, and he always seems to keep it fresh. His latest effort, the Die Antwoord short film “Umshini Wam” delighted us at SXSW. But the ever busy director is already on to his next thing, and it’s teaming with actor/artist/soap opera star/writer/teacher/philosopher James Franco on a mysterious street gangs project.
We got our first look at the project at the beginning of the month, and it has been described as a documentary-style video art project that will capture street gangs in the middle of fights, apparently using real knives. Now, a clip has landed from the project and it’s pretty rad. Set to Notorious B.I.G.‘s “Dead Wrong” the brief segment is filmed by Franco himself as he rides around filming what we presume is location for the shot. Yeah, it’s grainy iPhone video but look closely…those kids on bikes are all wearing Tupac t-shirts and the music selection isn’t random. Are Franco and Korine cooking up their own twisted version of the Tupac vs. Biggie battles of the ’90s? Pretty random guess, but God, we fucking hope so.
No word yet on when this will premiere but the end of the clip says Venice Biennale 2011, so the Venice Film Festival seems pretty likely at this point unless it’s presented as some sort of installation at the art exhibit that launches in June. It also names it “Rebel” so possible title alert. Either way: Franco, Korine, bikes, masks, old school hip hop? We’re fucking there.