[h2]5/4 (TIE). The Bling Ring and Spring Breakers[/h2]
These two films may be extremely different in many ways, and each explore concepts the other never touches upon, but when I think of one, I invariably find myself thinking of the other, for each aims to explore the emptiness of the material, American teenage experience, and what the American dream means to young people in a modern context. Both are spectacular films, but both are also intentionally difficult to like, with Spring Breakers employing a formally avant-garde, stream-of-consciousness style, The Bling Ring showcasing vain, unpleasant characters in increasingly uncomfortable situations, and each film aiming to overwhelm the viewer with images of unchecked excess and consumption. But film does not, of course, have to be about entertainment; honestly and insightfully portraying morally and emotionally complex experiences such as these is an equally valuable cinematic feat, and in terms of pure, experiential storytelling, The Bling Ring and Spring Breakers are unsurpassed for the year to date.
Individually, Spring Breakers is the richer picture, while The Bling Ring is, by design, simpler and more direct. The Bling Ring is uniformly focused on watching the lives of its characters unfold without judgment or commentary – and features fantastic work from Emma Watson and newcomers Katie Chang and Israel Broussard – while Spring Breakers is constantly commenting on itself through its elliptical, rhythmic editing style. It is, in truth, the single densest film I have seen all year, touching not only on the themes of modern teenage identity and material consumption shared by The Bling Ring, but also exploring voyeurism, violence, sexuality, masculinity and femininity, the nature of the body, and even concepts of transcendence. And in James Franco’s stirring, career-best work, Spring Breakers boasts the best leading male performance of 2013 to date.
Both films clearly deserve consideration among the best films of the year so far, and their thematic similarities and complements are such that ranking them separately seems futile. It would be a challenging experience, but Spring Breakers and The Bling Ring would make one hell of a double feature, and that is how I rank them here.
Read my full review of The Bling Ring here (I did not review Spring Breakers).
The Bling Ring is currently playing in limited theatrical release, and Spring Breakers is currently available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and digitally.
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