Trash Humpers
Encyclopedia
Trash Humpers is a 2009
American
independent
drama
"film" directed by Harmony Korine
. Shot on worn VHS
home video, the film features a "loser-gang cult-freak collective" and their whereabouts in Nashville, Tennessee
.
-style that Korine found very dramatic. They began to resemble human form, beaten, abused and “very humpable.” Korine remembered, as a teenager growing up in Nashville, a group of elderly peeping toms who would come out at night. He has described them as "the neighborhood boogeymen who worked at Krispy Kreme
and would wrap themselves in shrubbery, cover themselves with dirt, and peep through the windows of other neighbors." Putting these two ideas together, Korine found conception for the film.
As a child of the 1980s, Korine grew in the age of VHS. He remembers his first camera, given to him by his father, and reusing the tape over and over again. “There was something interesting about certain images or scenes bubbling up to the surface.” On the rationale for using VHS as the medium for Trash Humpers, Korine stated “There’s this obsession nowadays with technology and the fact that everything looks so clear. Everything needs to be so high-definition
. There was a strange beauty in the analog
. You almost have to squint to see things through the grain and the mist. There’s something sinister about it.”
Upset over the bureaucracy in producing his last and most expensive feature, Mister Lonely
, Korine aimed to make his next film as fast as he could, analogous to the free-form immediacy of painter and canvas. As a self-proclaimed "mistakist artist", Korine encouraged spontaneity. Like Julien Donkey-Boy
, the script was merely a collection of written down ideas. Before filming, Korine shot lo-fi images of people in costumes late at night to help find his aesthetic.
Filming lasted only a couple of weeks. “Once everyone was in their character and their costume, and I had figured out the structure of it, the randomness, the anti-aesthetic, it was really the performers, the Trash Humpers, walking around at night, videotaping each other doing these things,” Korine recalled. "We would just walk around and sleep under bridges or behind a strip mall somewhere. We’d get these big tractor tires and make a nest to sleep in." Korine adds, “it was pretty intense because there were no breaks. It was just constant. Korine says that he didn't think traditionally about scenes, sounds, or color during filming, but more about being true to a feeling. "If it feels right to me. If there is some strong, palpable, raw quality in the moment then I won't question it." Korine himself plays as one of the Trash Humpers, simultaneously taking on the role of actor, cinematographer, and director.
Korine cut the film on two VCRs to instill an approximate randomness. "I wanted a kind of incidental awkwardness, like maybe the guy taping it had turned it off and on." Korine often cites that in creation of the film he aimed to mimic a found object or artifact. He even flirted with the idea of “leaving the film on a sidewalk somewhere” to be unearthed at random, but ultimately decided he would claim ownership.
At the film’s premiere in Toronto
, Korine informed the audience that the title was to be taken quite literally and those prone to walking out were given due warning. Aware of his status as the provocateur, Korine understands his movies aren’t for everyone. “That’s why I named it Trash Humpers, because I didn’t want to fool anyone.” There were only four months between filming started and the world premiere.
For Korine, Trash Humpers is an elaborate portrait of the "American Landscape" : a series of "park garages, back alleyways, and beautiful lamp posts that light up the gutter." Korine has repeatedly emphasized his use of street lamps and how they are for him deeply representative of America.
Korine sees the film as an ode to vandalism. "I have a real deep love and admiration for these characters. Not for what they do, but for the way they do it." "There can be a creative beauty in their mayhem and destruction. You could say these characters are poets or mystics
of mayhem… comedic with a vaudevillian
horror." Korine wondered "whether this might make mainstream society envious of their social freedom."
’s Even Dwarfs Started Small
, Lars Von Trier
’s The Idiots
and the video art and kinetic sculptures of Paul McCarthy, though the only conscious reference Korine has made to cinematic influence is William Eggleston
’s Stranded in Canton, which Korine identifies as having “this liquid home movie photography and accidental narrative.”
remarked that the film is highly unlikely to gratify all audiences, and questioned what its notability would have been without the director's "hipster celebrity." However, intrigued by the film, he commented the cinematography as having "no small share of perverse beauty, particularly for those who miss the charming imperfections of videocassettes in this squeaky-clean digital era."
The film won the DOX Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival in November 2009.
on 7" in a limited run of 500 copies, with each sleeve "hand-filthed" and signed by director Harmony Korine.
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
independent
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
"film" directed by Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
. Shot on worn VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
home video, the film features a "loser-gang cult-freak collective" and their whereabouts in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Paul Booker | |
| Dave Cloud Dave Cloud Dave Cloud is an American musician, singer, songwriter, storyteller and occasional actor... |
|
| Chris Crofton | |
| Charles Ezell | Twin |
| Chris Gantry | Singer |
| Kevin Guthrie | |
| Harmony Korine Harmony Korine The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog... |
Hervé |
| Rachel Korine | Momma |
| Brian Kotzur | Buddy |
| Travis Nicholson | Travis |
| Page Spain |
Production
Walking his dog late at night in the back alleys of his hometown of Nashville, Korine encountered trash bins strewn across the ground in what he imagined as a war zone. Overhead lights beamed down upon the trash in a BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
-style that Korine found very dramatic. They began to resemble human form, beaten, abused and “very humpable.” Korine remembered, as a teenager growing up in Nashville, a group of elderly peeping toms who would come out at night. He has described them as "the neighborhood boogeymen who worked at Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme is the name of an international chain of doughnut stores that was founded by Vernon Rudolph in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The parent company of Krispy Kreme is Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc...
and would wrap themselves in shrubbery, cover themselves with dirt, and peep through the windows of other neighbors." Putting these two ideas together, Korine found conception for the film.
As a child of the 1980s, Korine grew in the age of VHS. He remembers his first camera, given to him by his father, and reusing the tape over and over again. “There was something interesting about certain images or scenes bubbling up to the surface.” On the rationale for using VHS as the medium for Trash Humpers, Korine stated “There’s this obsession nowadays with technology and the fact that everything looks so clear. Everything needs to be so high-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
. There was a strange beauty in the analog
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
. You almost have to squint to see things through the grain and the mist. There’s something sinister about it.”
Upset over the bureaucracy in producing his last and most expensive feature, Mister Lonely
Mister Lonely
Mister Lonely is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Harmony Korine, and co-written with his brother Avi Korine.-Plot:A young American man living in Paris scratches out a living as a Michael Jackson look-alike, dancing on the streets, public parks, tourist spots and trade shows. During a show in...
, Korine aimed to make his next film as fast as he could, analogous to the free-form immediacy of painter and canvas. As a self-proclaimed "mistakist artist", Korine encouraged spontaneity. Like Julien Donkey-Boy
Julien Donkey-Boy
Julien Donkey-Boy is a 1999 independent drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine. The screenplay concentrates on the schizophrenic Julien, played by Scottish actor Ewen Bremner, and his dysfunctional family. The film also stars Chloe Sevigny as Julien's sister, Pearl, and Werner Herzog as...
, the script was merely a collection of written down ideas. Before filming, Korine shot lo-fi images of people in costumes late at night to help find his aesthetic.
Filming lasted only a couple of weeks. “Once everyone was in their character and their costume, and I had figured out the structure of it, the randomness, the anti-aesthetic, it was really the performers, the Trash Humpers, walking around at night, videotaping each other doing these things,” Korine recalled. "We would just walk around and sleep under bridges or behind a strip mall somewhere. We’d get these big tractor tires and make a nest to sleep in." Korine adds, “it was pretty intense because there were no breaks. It was just constant. Korine says that he didn't think traditionally about scenes, sounds, or color during filming, but more about being true to a feeling. "If it feels right to me. If there is some strong, palpable, raw quality in the moment then I won't question it." Korine himself plays as one of the Trash Humpers, simultaneously taking on the role of actor, cinematographer, and director.
Korine cut the film on two VCRs to instill an approximate randomness. "I wanted a kind of incidental awkwardness, like maybe the guy taping it had turned it off and on." Korine often cites that in creation of the film he aimed to mimic a found object or artifact. He even flirted with the idea of “leaving the film on a sidewalk somewhere” to be unearthed at random, but ultimately decided he would claim ownership.
At the film’s premiere in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Korine informed the audience that the title was to be taken quite literally and those prone to walking out were given due warning. Aware of his status as the provocateur, Korine understands his movies aren’t for everyone. “That’s why I named it Trash Humpers, because I didn’t want to fool anyone.” There were only four months between filming started and the world premiere.
For Korine, Trash Humpers is an elaborate portrait of the "American Landscape" : a series of "park garages, back alleyways, and beautiful lamp posts that light up the gutter." Korine has repeatedly emphasized his use of street lamps and how they are for him deeply representative of America.
Korine sees the film as an ode to vandalism. "I have a real deep love and admiration for these characters. Not for what they do, but for the way they do it." "There can be a creative beauty in their mayhem and destruction. You could say these characters are poets or mystics
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
of mayhem… comedic with a vaudevillian
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
horror." Korine wondered "whether this might make mainstream society envious of their social freedom."
Influence
Trash Humpers has been compared to Werner HerzogWerner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
’s Even Dwarfs Started Small
Even Dwarfs Started Small
Even Dwarfs Started Small is a 1970 film by German director Werner Herzog.-Plot:A group of dwarfs confined in an institution on a remote island rebel against the guards and director in a display of mayhem...
, Lars Von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
’s The Idiots
The Idiots
The Idiots is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme '95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2...
and the video art and kinetic sculptures of Paul McCarthy, though the only conscious reference Korine has made to cinematic influence is William Eggleston
William Eggleston
William Eggleston , is an American photographer. He is widely credited with increasing recognition for color photography as a legitimate artistic medium to display in art galleries—which, until the 1970s, often tended to privilege work by photographers making black-and-white prints.- Early years...
’s Stranded in Canton, which Korine identifies as having “this liquid home movie photography and accidental narrative.”
Reception
Rob Nelson of VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
remarked that the film is highly unlikely to gratify all audiences, and questioned what its notability would have been without the director's "hipster celebrity." However, intrigued by the film, he commented the cinematography as having "no small share of perverse beauty, particularly for those who miss the charming imperfections of videocassettes in this squeaky-clean digital era."
The film won the DOX Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival in November 2009.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the film was released by Drag CityDrag City (record label)
Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label. It was established with a Royal Trux release in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock acts...
on 7" in a limited run of 500 copies, with each sleeve "hand-filthed" and signed by director Harmony Korine.
Track listing
- "Trashy Torch Song Lullaby" (1:21)
- "Rumble" (0:22)
- "Night Time" (1:16)
- "Three Little Devils" (0:50)
- "Chitshit" (0:49)
- "Kitchen Strangulation" (2:07)
- "You Girls Juss Suck Large Fat Penis" (5:06)
- "Sweet Night" (0:51)
- "Sleep My Darlin" (2:11)
External links
- Official website
- Alcove Entertainment
- Trailer, Excerpts, Screenshots
- Cinema Scope Review
- Toronto Q&A, TIFF Q&A, London Q&A, NYFF Q&A, 2, 3, 4
- NYFF Interview, On the Circuit Interview, LFF Interview
- Harmony Talks Trash in Dossier Journal
- Korine's Acceptance Speech for CPH:DOX