So in my review of A Clockwork Orange I essentially implied that if you did not at the least find the film decent your were a fool. I am not going to do that this time. I’m not going to pretend Napoleon Dynamite is high art, and I am not going to pretend you will definitely love, like or even put up with this film. The plot is essentially following our protagonist Napoleon Dynamite and his life for a period of time. Napoleon is that loser at school that you would not be seen dead with. Everything about him is awkward and inept. He lives with his Uncle Rico, his brother Kip and the main plot of the story is how his friend Pedro, a Mexican student, runs for class president. The plot is not really going anywhere, it meanders its way through Napoleon’s life and specifically how he affects the other characters and I know that many people find this a problem. Yet I adore this film, as do many others and while it is not high art, it still does have artistic merit. The scenery is stunning and shot competently. The acting is top notch all round and most of the writing is pitch-perfect. It is also comic genius. I’m not going to go into the comedic aspect too much but suffice to say it is incredible and once you get onto the humour you will be laughing all the way through. But the real reasons I love this film and why it has gone down as a cult classic are the weirdness of it all and the characters. In terms of the weirdness it has an overall ambiance like nothing I have ever seen, it is hard to describe but it is something that you will either adore or something that will annoy you for the whole runtime. It also has the single greatest dance scene of any film ever. The other draw of this film is the characters. All the teenage characters represent extreme caricatures of emotions that, and I’m going to go out on a limb here, most teenagers feel at some point. Napoleon is awkward, socially inept and, whatever he likes to pretend, clearly lacks self-confidence. Pedro is an outsider fighting to gain the recognition and respect of his peers. Deb is very creative, but too nervous to express herself fully. Ultimately it is these characters that add the quirk of the film and are both its greatest strength and weakness. They have made it a film that audiences tend to either love or hate, so I would say, do watch it and do give it a fair go and hopefully you might just fall in love with this misshapen gem of a film. Tim Baxter |
|||
It’s an odd one this.
Whose story is it?
I've always found this film a little tiresome, mainly because Napoleon is a bit of a petulant jumped up little geek rather than a loveable one. He's completely unlikable, he does nothing to gain our sympathy and is too passive a protagonist for us to care about the outcome of his story (not that there is a story to speak of.) I love meandering films like Satantango for example, but this fails to deliver an aesthetic punch strong enough to justify its existence as a series of broadly connected sketches.
There is also the matter of who's story is it? I think a better title for the film may have been "Vote Pedro" as this is the character we are really following and the character we're really invested in. Pedro is an adorable character who has our attention from the start. Possibly the most interesting element of the film for me is how Napoleon is a minor character in his own story.
The film is funny in places, indeed very funny when it wants to be, but all in all it could do with a serious plot re-structuring and a main character who has a story arc with whom we can engage with emotionally.
Post new comment