| I'm Gonna Explode | |
|
Much has been made of I'm Gonna Explode's similarities to Godard's Pierrot Le Fou (or at least, much has been made of it by those sites to deign to discuss fringe cinema at all). Some critics claim that Naranjo blindly imitates the style of Godard as he deploys jerky hand-held camerawork and jarring shifts in perspective to tell a story of two teenage lovers who are consciously fleeing the monotonous pain of the world around them: seemingly without rhyme or reason to their flight. In some senses, this is true. The love for Godard is obvious in the vivid abandon of Naranjo's cinematography and haphazard narrative structure. But the connection between the two directors is not one of imitation, but rather of inspiration, with Naranjo drawing on Godard in the same way much South America was once inspired by Italian Neo-Realism. This is certainly not something that detracts from the film, and even less something that undermines the kooky originality that infuses this film. Beginning with Roman staging a fake hanging of himself in school, the equally dark Maru is soon drawn to him. The more time they spend together, the more they realise how they both want to escape. Roman is running from the life led by his right-wing politician father and his stepmother, (as well as the death of his mother some years ago), while Maru is more openly escaping a life devoid of meaning that is unable of feeding her active imagination and desire for excitement.  As the couple go fugitive, the film vacillates between delving deep inside the idiosyncrasies of these two screwball youngsters, who are still quite clearly not fully-fledged adults, and displaying a kind of cultivated detachment (one element heavily derived from Godard) that keeps the kind of meaning searched for by the characters frustratingly elusive. It's enjoyable and moving, with lots to like. Very few filmmakers are brave enough to revive legacies of some who came before them, and seeing them displayed with the kind of joy and bravado shown here is a pleasure to watch. Nonetheless it also means I'm Gonna Explode runs the risk of coming off simply as derivative, and this film may not stand the test of time as well as the films that it so lovingly borrows from. Rating: **** Starring: Juan Pablo de Santiago, Maria Deschamps, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Pedro González Director: Gerardo Naranjo Run time: 162 mins Certificate: UK 15 | Mexico B15 Release date: 1st January 2010 Review by Michael Edwards For more screwball romance go with (500) Days of Summer, easily the best rom-com of last year, for more big screen artiness you can't beat Jim Jarmusch: his latest film The Limits of Control is out now.
|
Mexican director Gerardo Naranjo's film is a love letter to Godard, a screwball romance and, most importantly, a story told by a filmmaker having fun.
