Sta.sh
) And I decided to write this. It's been on my mind for a while, sparked by a friend's words last year. Consider this the remnants of my years as a Lit major.
It is not a secret that I am in love with cinema. In fact, I would like to work someday in that industry: director, writing, dubbing...Whatever. But since it is a world quite far away from me right now, there is one job that I can currently do: critic.
I know that you don't give a shit about critics, neither do I, but I would like to present my point of view of films I have watched recently or not and see if you agree or not with me and why.
The first movie I want to critique is "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" (1999)
I have to admit that I didn't like South Park at first. I had only watched a few scenes of the cartoon series and I thought it was a too dark black humor for me. But then, I heard the "Blame Canada" song and liked it, and when I realized that it was from the series' movie, I decided to download it and watch it.
Now, I love it.
I fell in love with the characters. They aren't so mean and rude as they are presented sometimes...They usually are but we must never forget that they are children. They play, they laughed, they cry...And they have different personalities: Stan is the sensible one, Kyle has the morals, Kenny has a golden heart and Cartman...Well, he is a bastard but he is funny. What I like the most about this is that they are good kids, but they are not angels. That's the problem with many characters in movies and TV: that they are too good or too bad.
Another thing that made me love South Park is the issues they talk about. They deal with abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, religion, drugs, addiction to technology, fatness...It is similar to what The Simpsons do, but they are harder than them (that's why the creator have been threatened a million times). They black humor is simply...Hurting. Many people are scandalized about their controversy but isn't that what satire is supposed to be? I think Trey Parker and Matt Stone are so brave to do it.
The movie focuses on over-protection of children, freedom of expression, war and courage; very current issues.
The story starts a Sunday when Stan, Kenny, Kyle and Cartman sneak into the theater and watch Terrance and Philip's film, which is full of swearwords and vulgarities. When they go out of the projection, they start using the same dirty language as the two Canadian actors. The school and their parents punish them and try to correct them, but more and more children go to see the film and start behaving like them. One day, it all snaps when Kenny tries to demonstrate to Cartman that farts can really make flames like Terrance and Philip do in their film but he burns and dies in the hospital (due to a great amount of medical negligences). Kyle's mother, Sheila, seeing that they have to protect their children from this awful influence, forms "Mothers Against Canada", a movement that blames that country for their immoral behavior and presses the USA's government to attack. They start repression, arrest Terrance and Philip and order their execution, which makes Canada react and both countries declare war. Horrified by this situation, Kyle, Stan and Cartman decide to save their favorite comedians and stop the war. Also, Kenny discovers in Hell that Satan waits for the execution of Terrance and Philip to take over the world...And that Saddam Hussein, his lover, is manipulating him.
It surprised me that they decided to make it a musical, but I have to say that the songs is the thing I love the most. They are funny, memorable and some of them have an awesome energy. I already mentioned "Blame Canada", which was even nominated for an Academy Award, but there is also "Uncle Fucka", a song that I have heard millions of times and that is very popular, "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch", and my favorite one: "La Resistance". For me, that's one of the greatest songs ever. It is a medley of some of the songs of the film, including the two first mentioned here, and it talks about the necessity to rise against injustice, the desires of the characters, the tragic situation they are in and the sacrifice for what's right. The rhythm increases as the song progresses and it gets better and better and better till the final line in which all the voices join and the Resistance's flag appears in the screen. Just...Awesome.
Other thing that surprised me is the emotional parts it has. We have several plots in the movie: Stan is in love with Wendy, but he doesn't know how to tell her and she is too close to Gregory, a new, charming boy. Kyle is afraid of what his mother is doing and for the fate of his little brother Ike, a Canadian-born toddler. Cartman is hurt because he cannot say curses anymore, discovers dark things about his mother and feels responsible for the death of Kenny, who is terrified and repented of his sins. The most striking one is Satan's, who results to be an insecure man who feels lonely and that is emotionally manipulated by Saddam, who doesn't understand his feelings and lies to him to obtain his favors.
It is quite weird that they included him in the movie, and even more as Satan's lover, but, well, it was the 1990s and he was America's worst enemy. Satire. Pure satire.
In general, I like how the plot is developed. We can see the phases of the war, the development of the characters, who, contrary to what happens in many movies, learn their lessons, and, overall, it is realistic in some way. And we saw Kenny's face for the first time ever!
One little thing that bothers me a little is the animation. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against how they animate South Park, I think it is good and original. But in my opinion the effects would have been much better if they had done it some years later or, better, nowadays. South Park's style has changed a lot these years: their colors are brighter, the expressions are more realistic...While in the 90s they were still pretty rigid and the characters are too similar to each other.
But this is a minor detail. The movie is still very enjoyable. I am waiting for the DVD, which I had bought in Internet because you don't know how hard it is to find this in Spain.
See you next wednesday with another critique!
