Nowhere (1997)
Writer-director Gregg Araki is to be applauded for making films that he would want to see. He’s also to be commended for making the best of his limited resources, attracting a variable bunch of, at the time, up-and-coming talent and a decent soundtrack. It’s also just as well that Araki makes films for himself as outside of a bunch of pretentious nobodies that stroke their chins and look for meaning in the absurd that sometimes masquerades as art.
Araki has described Nowhere as ‘90210 on acid’ in reference to the Beverly Hills set youth program of the early Nineties which stoked fuck all interest outside of the American demographic it was designed for so do we like, give a shit if he’s made a film similar but upped the ante a bit? He looks to push buttons and surprise us all with his ‘this is how it is for teenagers, aren’t they misunderstood and treated unfairly’ when really it’s nothing new, he’s just dressed it up differently.
He teases the possibility of man-on-man action but rarely has the courage to go further which given that outside of festival circuits, especially those aimed at a gay market, no one else is really going to slap this on their must-see list, seems at odds with the provocative flick he obviously intended this to be. It’s apparent that the bisexual/homoerotic imagery was meant to have provoked upon its release in the late Nineties however in an age now where anything goes in gay cinema – Shortbus and I Want Your Love this means you – the lack of full nudity is frustrating rather than erotic, considering the envelope that Araki was attempting to ram rather than push at the time, which was kind of the norm at the time for film-makers interested in attracting the pink pound.
Nowhere is a day in the lives of assorted Los Angeles school kids. Our primary focus is eighteen-year-old Dark Smith (James Duval). He’s flirting with the idea of jumping into bed and having naked naughtiness with his classmate Montgomery (Nathan Bexton) as well as having occasional nookie with his bisexual girlfriend (Rachel True). This scenario causes much emotional turmoil for Dark but quite why who knows, just jump in and enjoy it matey. Where he should really be looking to sort things out in his life is with his bitchy, disagreeable buddies. Why would you willingly choose to hang around with people that have nothing good to say about anything and do nothing but trade acid-tongued put-downs all day?
It’s hard to care about such a repellent collective but that’s what I think Araki would like us to do. The film builds up to ‘the greatest party of the year’ at Jujyfruit’s taking in appearances from an alien, a man having his nipple rings ripped out and a poor unfortunate being raped by a TV star (the only moment in the film where you have any empathy for a character).
There are lots of drugs taken, alcohol consumed and various couplings getting full on sexy but it’s all so thrown together and haphazard that you want to switch off. There’s nothing worse than being stone-cold sober at a party where everyone’s off their tits so would you pay to watch a film where everyone is having such a blast?
Nowhere is the third part of Gregg Araki’s Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy. The other two parts are <b>Totally Fucked Up and The Doom Generation. Dark’s opening statement is “L.A. is like… nowhere. Everybody who lives here is lost.” Yeah poor me, I get to do bugger all with my life except meet my friends and party, man that must be TOUGH! Grown up the lot of you! The dialogue for each character is evidently from the same pen, there’s no differentiation in the voice they are given to speak with. The ending is a major WTF moment but also a welcome relief as I thought it would never end regardless of the short running time it’s still an endurance test.
The soundtrack is a delight though and a decent accompaniment to the bright comic book colours that fortunately distract from the on-screen shenanigans. From British bands Suede and Blur to the likes of Nitzer Ebb and Nine Inch Nails Araki has hit the spot nicely. Another plus in Nowhere’s favour is the fun to be had in spotting actors that were still in the fledging stage of their careers at the time and all going on for bigger and better and arguably, aside from Ryan Phillippe, by now have already had their day (Heather Graham, Mena Suvari and Denise Richards, this means you!) And it’s because of these small pleasures that Nowhere has received two stars rather than none at all.
The ending is as pretentious as Araki’s uses of an extraterrestrial to underline the theme of alienation – alien, alienation…get it? – in fact the whole film, aside from the small pleasures mentioned above, is aptly surmised in its title. It’s a film that goes nowhere, put this back on the shelf and check out the soundtrack instead. You’ll thank me for it I promise.
