Spring Break forever bitches

When I saw an image of James Franco as a ‘gangsta’ with cornrows and a set of grills, along with an ensemble of pretty girls, noted for Disney –esque roles, I was pretty excited to see Harmony Korine’s Springbreakers (2012).

Narrative wise, it’s about four college girls Selena Gomez (Faith), Vanessa Hudgens (Candy), Ashley Benson (Brit), and Rachel Korine (Cotty) planning their way get to spring break. With unsuccessful attempts in raising enough cash, Candy and Brit rob a restaurant wearing balaclavas, masculine voices, and realistic looking squirt guns and get the group to spring break. Adhering to appropriate spring break personas, the group indulge in sexual freedom and consumption. However, the narrative changes to a darker context leaving its MTV aesthetics and moves towards that of the Grand Theft Auto video game series. The girls are arrested and we meet rapper Alien (James Franco) who mysteriously pays for their bail, involving himself within the groups circle. Alien’s gang fuelled lifestyle scares Faith who goes back home, subsequently so does Cotty. However, Candy and Brit have a sexual relationship with Alien and ulterior motifs of their own.

Spring breakers is full on in a sense. Benoit Debie’s cinematography embraces projectile vomit, tits, booty, and crouch shots, I felt like I was watching Girls Gone Wild. But then there’s another side, their friendship. I found an ironically touching moment in Korine use of Britney Spears Everytime and made me draw a familiar connection to Sophia Coppola’s Somewhere (2010) juxtaposing postart Gwen Stefani’s Cool against her own independent trademark. Similarly, these songs enhance the heartfelt moment shared between a father and daughter, and in this case, friends. The girls and Ailen all sing along to Spears (at this stage the trio) wearing pink unicorn baklavas, cutaway bathers and guns all huddled around Aliens’ grand piano.

Playing true to Grand Theft Auto’s Vice City aesthetics with blinding 80’s neon filters and a gang war shoot, at no time does Spring Breakers disappoint but builds into something stronger when Candy and Brit’s embark on their final mission.