Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers opens with slow motion close-ups of semi-naked dancing bodies swaying to the sound of Skrillex’s “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”, introducing us to the dubstep sound that makes up much of the film’s soundtrack. As the film progresses, it comes as no surprise that Skrillex collaborated with Cliff Martinez, the man behind Drive‘s soundtrack, and like Winding Refn’s film, Spring Breakers is a highly paradoxical film. The film’s opening scene presents lively groups of college students, partying, kissing and drinking happily in the sun but these joyous scenes are suddenly interrupted by the screams of “Oh my god”, a feature on the original track. This opening scene essentially introduces us to the main paradox of the film; it is one that simultaneously presents us with the fantasy world of one (or several) of the main characters, as well as plunging us into their (or their parents’) worst nightmare, given the drug-taking and criminal aspect of the narrative.
The film tells the story of four college girls who, short on cash, rob a diner to fund a trip to Florida for spring break. As it stars Ashley Benson (Days of our Lives), Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) and Selina Gomez (Disney tween sensation), the film can be read as a commentary on contemporary YOLO culture and its accompanying immediacy, as well as the dominating postmodern tendency of today’s youth culture. The film’s paradoxical nature is, in my reading, its central aspect, as its focus on alcohol and drug-taking prepares us from the very beginning to be suspicious of everything we see and hear. The film is essentially a 90 minute music video from beginning to end due to the almost non-stop soundtrack and the persistent slow-motion partying scenes, and it strongly resembles the fantasy of a college student who is listening to their iPod whilst daydreaming about spring break. Due to the nature of the narrative, editing and soundtrack, we are never quite certain of whether the entire film is simply a daydream or not. Much of the film is shot in either blinding sunlight, complete with plenty of lens flare, or in nighttime scenes that use fluorescent lighting, adding a distinctly dreamlike quality. In addition, several lines of dialogue and snippets of the soundtrack recur throughout the film in a technique that reminds us of either deja vu or the hazy memories of the drunken/hung over mind. At several moments, such lines of dialogue link the film with numerous other “teen”/coming-of-age films including the distinctly innocent philosophical musings of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and American Pie (1999) and their quasi-dogmatic mantras of youth (“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”; “This is our day! This is our time! And, by God, we’re not gonna let history condemn us to celibacy! We will make a stand! We will succeed! We will get laid!”). In Korine’s film, Gomez’s character wishes that their spring break experience could last forever is a speech that recurs throughout the film at several key moments and set to different tracks. Such moments break the rules of conventional narrative, whilst also allowing the film to appear to be a hollow image of Generation Y’s partying lifestyle and empty phrases. Yet, the film becomes a strong social critique of this lifestyle and ideology with the arrival of James Franco’s Alien character, a drug dealer and rapper, who comments continuously on his material possessions and power (“Check out all this shit. It’s the American Dream”).
The film that Spring Breakers most resembles is undoubtedly Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971) due to its highly stylised aesthetic, violence and idiosyncratic play with language and soundtrack. Here, the main characters continuously speak in kitschy and meaningless catchphrases and sing trashy pop songs (in particular the songs of Britney Spears). The most significant scene of the film is arguably one in which Franco sings Spears’ “Everytime” on his grand piano. This moment undoubtedly embodies the nonsensical imagery and references that the film flaunts, as well as containing its central and highly significant social and cultural critique. But in such moments, the film illustrates its importance and relevance within contemporary American cinema.
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