Generation Um...

Saw Generation Um... (Thanks, Nina!) Filmed in 2012, it felt like a little time-capsule of the late 2000s. There's flash mobs and endless boozy parties; at one point a veteran shouts "yes we can!" It's very nostalgic although an element of that (boozy parties) is more about being young than it being 2012 or whatever. Anyway, the film follows two pretty party girls and Keanu Reeves who has stolen a camera. They use this camera to create an ad hoc documentary. One of the girls wants to pretend to be a reality TV star (more late-2000s culture) the other has a troubled past which she freely talks about. They talk and drink and snort the night away.

These women seem like fun, but one of them in particular is a complete mess. Shouting, being aggressively rude and drunk, she buys back some affection from Keanu with a quickie in the men's room. Just gross. As the film wears on, they drop little hints and revelations that explain and justify their behavior but it's kind of a third-act twist that these women are worthwhile people after all. If I were in a more generous mood, I would assume that they have their own struggles that make them behave as they do, but I am not in a charitable mood and for most of the film I couldn't wait to get away from them.

The city is also a major element of the film. Every scene had overlapping layers of sound. Music is used very sparingly and for the most part even quiet, soul-bearing scenes are played out above a miasma of honks, trucks, neighbors moving about, and snatches of conversation on the street. At one point Keanu is eating a cupcake and listening to the street noises which are overwhelming and continuous and in the background, playing on the bakery's sound system, is the Moonlight Sonata. A moment of grace, struggling to get out from this chaos.

The film felt very like being at school. Away from parents for the first time there is no one to prevent you from passing out at dawn, fully dressed but there is also little structure. The people in this film feel either uninhibited or hedonistic (or perhaps a bit of both.) The film is a bit long to sit through but offers small rewards if you tough it out. I think it's too free-wheeling for me. Getting drunk and yelling is great and all, but what if we just went to bed at a sensible time instead, girls? How about that?