Audience Member
As with most movies trying to use experimental cinematography, there are hits and misses with regard to the camera work in this film; the hazy opening sequences of a carousel, and numerous cuts to blurry, non-discernable color in the dead of night detract from the otherwise sharply captured environment of non-Miami south Florida. Scenes showing Ryan running through an orange grove and later a swamp, along with an extended stay at a rustic general store do well to immerse the viewer in the environment. The film further does well to capture the distinctly class-based struggle that Ryan finds himself in; the strangers at the country store offer him drinks and drive him into town despite his being an escapee, while the black prisoners that he broke out of juvenile hall with treat him better than the white thugs that beat him up in a grocery store parking lot for "stepping on their bottle cap." This film wanders, but does it convincingly.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/16/23
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Audience Member
I expected to like this movie but I was REALLY disappointed.This movie blows!!!!
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
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Audience Member
When I first saw this movie it really got me into his adventure/life. There is a great charm this film has, and the way it is put together is quite engrossing. I was surprised that this was released in '98 as it seems like a 2000s movie. Definitely arty and indie-like. I watched it again for the first time in 7 months and it still makes me feel the same way. I think it will remain a special sort of movie for some people that can relate to it.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
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Audience Member
Trans mixes styles and shifts gears, creating eye-searing imagery on what was obviously a tiny budget. It's not, to be kind, the most narratively driven movie you'll ever see; narration and music attempt to string together what's often an aimless series of events. But aimlessness is surely the point, since in Trans what turns people to crime is not evil but boredom.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
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Audience Member
Interesting, low-key experimental movie is not for everyone, but will be greatly appreciated by a small few.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
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Audience Member
Better after repeat veiwings. Seek this out!
I loved this, a a fantastic soundtrack helps take us through a few days in the life of a 16 year old Ryan Kazinski in a Florida Juvenile Detention, early on a fight breaks out between two boys, while their out picking up trash on the highway. While the gaurds rush to break them out, several boys just take of running in all directions, Ryan is among them. Its not til theyre halfway in the swamp do any of them stop to consider what their doing. It wont come for Ryan til halfway into the movie, when his brother asks "why did you run? You only had a month left?", and he responds, "lets not talk about it. Doesnt matter now". Whatever stupid thing got him locked up, is now rivaled by his equally stupid attempt at escape. His father is never mentioned, and his mother lives in another state he thinks, he and his younger brother who visits him in detention both arent sure.
Once he escapes, freedom includes sitting on the porch with some old guys in front of a gas station, getting beat up in a parking lot for stepping on someones bear bottle tops, listening to fellow escapees free-style, a robbery at a dog pound and stealing a puppy, huffig aerosal out of cool whip in the supermarket, night swimming, evading the police, and visiting his younger brother in turn(the emotional heart of the film).
What he does isnt whats impressive about this movie(most of the time hes either a child or an idiot), its the way its shown, the use of music, sound, camera, and voice over, that makes so engrossing. Style over substance maybe, but I prefer to think the movie itself, enriches and exceeds the narrow confines of the story, as all good films should.
And now the comparisons: rambling voice over from Terrance Malick, music from Morvern Callar and Paranoid Park(which I wouldnt doubt Van Sant saw before going on to his film), story ala Down By Law, some white trash moments from Harmony Korine(with more compasion and less freak show). But those are its references, and scarecly give you sense of how exhilerating and exuberant the whole thing is.
Theres little dialogue, and the story feels plotless at points, but by the end, every visit and encounter has had consequences on another. If there is a message to this(if there must be), maybe its that even the seemingly meaningless and impulsive decisions made always have consequences later, but they can richocet to worse, just as well as to better. The ending may seem underthought to some, but I appreciated that it didnt devolve into another muddled indie tragedy. Instead it took off into the clouds.
This movie resonated with me, even its uneveness and flaws. I was mesmerized from the first frame to the last. Like southern fried, french new wave. I really, really want the soundtrack. Beautiful and hypnotic.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
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