When I think of the world of cinema, I understand that while most films are designed to entertainment or inform, others focus more on the artistic side. However, when watching Julien Donkey-Boy, all I see is an extremely dull mess, which is far from entertaining and something I'd rather label pointless than artistic. While some of what we see may be to show the world through Julien's eyes, there's so much that really doesn't seem to make any kind of statement or prove any sort of point. One of the best examples has to be a few shots of a masturbating nun.. why? It just seems like Korine is trying to add controversy for the sake of it.
And while I don't mind films that don't have a steadily progressing narrative, seeing scene after scene of awful "artistic" cinematic techniques, such as using jump-cuts and slashed up sound (thus making scenes impossible to understand..), isn't something I enjoy.
It was extremely difficult to come up with any positives.. but I have to admit that the acting is superb. Werner Herzog in particular can be very funny at times. However these are the only redeeming features in an otherwise shockingly poor film.
While I don't regret watching Julien Donkey-Boy, as I'm open to all kinds of cinema (even after watching this..), it's certainly something I will never watch again, nor recommend to a friend, and I hope I never have to endure another film that's even nearly as bad. If you want a good Dogme film, go see Festen.
And while I don't mind films that don't have a steadily progressing narrative, seeing scene after scene of awful "artistic" cinematic techniques, such as using jump-cuts and slashed up sound (thus making scenes impossible to understand..), isn't something I enjoy.
It was extremely difficult to come up with any positives.. but I have to admit that the acting is superb. Werner Herzog in particular can be very funny at times. However these are the only redeeming features in an otherwise shockingly poor film.
While I don't regret watching Julien Donkey-Boy, as I'm open to all kinds of cinema (even after watching this..), it's certainly something I will never watch again, nor recommend to a friend, and I hope I never have to endure another film that's even nearly as bad. If you want a good Dogme film, go see Festen.