Spring Breakers

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

For other uses, see Spring break (disambiguation).
Spring Breakers
File:Spring Breakers poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Harmony Korine
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Chris Hanley
  • Jordan Gertner
  • David Zander
  • Charles-Marie Anthonioz
Written by Harmony Korine
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Cinematography Benoît Debie
Edited by Douglas Crise
Production
company
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Distributed by A24
Release dates
 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • September 4, 2012 (2012-09-04) (Venice)
  • March 22, 2013 (2013-03-22) (United States)[1]
Running time
 94 minutes[2]
Country United States[3]
Language English
Budget $5 million[4]
Box office $31.7 million[5]

Spring Breakers is a 2012 American crime drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine. It stars James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine and follows four college-aged girls on their spring break in Florida where they meet an eccentric local drug dealer named Alien who helps them in a time of desperation, and their eventual descent into a world of drugs, crime, and violence.[6][7][8][9][10]

Korine had devised the concept for Spring Breakers over several years prior to production, with fleeting ideas about the plot and what should transpire. His initial desire was to create a "sensory film" that was more about feeling than action and placed little importance on narrative or plot, the idea for which came later.[11] Once Korine developed the backbone of the story, which takes place around the American spring break period, he travelled to Florida to write the screenplay. Production began in 2012, on an estimated budget of $5 million–a relatively small amount in today's film industry, albeit Korine's second most expensive film to date. The film is also one of Korine's first theatrical works to receive a wide release.[12]

Released in March 2013, Spring Breakers grossed $31 million worldwide, making it a resounding success considering the small budget. It received generally positive reviews from film critics, with some calling it a potential cult classic.[13][14][15][16] The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival.[17] Critics and scholars have read deeper meaning in the film's plot, commenting on its reflection of modern day superficiality and the younger generation's obsession with highly stylised pop culture media.[18]

Plot

College students Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) spend their time partying while their friend Faith (Selena Gomez) attends a religious youth group. As their classmates head to spring break, they are stuck behind due to a lack of money. Desperate to make the trip, Brit and Candy, after getting high on cocaine, don ski masks and use hammers and realistic-looking squirt guns to rob a local restaurant. Cotty drives and later burns a getaway car stolen from one of their professors.

In St. Petersburg, Florida, the girls attend wild beach parties fueled by alcohol, drugs and sex. Cotty, Candy and Brit divulge the details of their crime to a horrified Faith, who keeps quiet about it. After a particularly wild party, all four are arrested. They spend the night in a holding cell, but are bailed out by Alien (James Franco), a local rapper and gangster. Alien charms Cotty, Candy and Brit with his wealth and "bad boy" swagger, but Faith feels uneasy.

Alien takes the girls to a local club frequented by gang members, where Faith becomes even more uncomfortable with his lifestyle. Despite Alien's attempts to convince her to stay, Faith decides to leave and begs the others to come with her. They refuse, however, and she makes the trip home alone. Alien takes Brit and Candy to a strip club owned by his rival, Big Arch (Gucci Mane), who warns Alien to stop selling drugs in his territory. The girls return to Alien's mansion, where he flaunts his drug money and cache of weapons, describing his life as the "American Dream". Brit and Candy suddenly grab one of his guns and threaten to kill him; turned on, Alien performs fellatio on the gun and declares that he has fallen in love with the girls.

Alien arms the girls with pink ski masks and shotguns, and they perform several armed robberies. While in Alien's car they are approached by Big Arch and another member of his gang, who threaten them and execute a drive-by shooting, wounding Cotty. Alien promises to retaliate, but a traumatized Cotty chooses to return home. Brit and Candy stay behind and begin a sexual relationship with Alien. The three of them decide to take revenge on Big Arch. In a flashforward, the two girls call home, promising to work harder and become better people.

Back in the present, the three travel in a motorboat to Big Arch's mansion. After docking at the pier, Alien is immediately shot and killed by one of Big Arch's guards. Brit and Candy continue on, killing Big Arch's gang before confronting and killing Big Arch himself. During the assault and its aftermath, the camera pans over the dead bodies of Big Arch's gang while Faith speaks in a voice-over, first heard earlier in the film, describing the beach's beauty and musing that they have discovered who they truly are. Brit and Candy drive home in Big Arch's Lamborghini. A final flashback shows the pair kissing Alien's dead body.

Cast

Production

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. According to Harmony Korine, he wrote the film partially to make up for his own spring breaks, as he had been fully devoted to skateboarding, and therefore missed out on what he saw as opportunities for hedonistic pursuits.[19] Korine has referred to the film as a "beach noir".[18] The original lineup of lead actresses was announced as Emma Roberts, Selena Gomez, and Vanessa Hudgens.[20] Roberts however dropped out in early 2012, reportedly after hearing she would need to gain body fat for her role.[21] Director Korine had purposely collected a group of well-known young actresses with a similar reputation to Roberts in Hollywood.[22] Ashley Benson was ultimately cast.[23] The film was shot in March and April 2012 in and around St. Petersburg, Florida.[19] Skrillex produced the film's score.[24]

Release

A part of the main cast at the film's premiere in Paris in February 2013: Rachel Korine, Ashley Benson, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens

A three-minute preview of Spring Breakers was released at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in May 2012.[25] The entire film premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2012.[26] The film was released in New York and Los Angeles on March 15, 2013.[27] The film was released nationwide on March 22, 2013.[28] The film had a limited release in the U.K. on April 5, 2014.[29] The movie was also released in France on March 6, 2013 and was scheduled to be released in Australia in early March, however was pushed back to a release date of May 4.

Home media

Spring Breakers was released digitally on June 25, 2014,[30][31] and on DVD and Blu-ray on July 4, 2014.[32]

Controversy

Riff Raff

On February 15, 2012, Korine contacted rapper Riff Raff about appearing in an upcoming film of his which would turn out to be Spring Breakers.[33] Once the trailer was released there was speculation that the character Alien was based around Riff Raff.[34] According to Franco, his character is based on the underground rap artist Dangeruss, who has a cameo in the film. "Of course Harmony and I looked at some of Riff Raff's videos as inspiration, but he was one of a number of people we looked at. I would say the biggest influence on the role was this local Florida rapper named Dangeruss. He's fairly unknown, but he was down there in the place, living the life, and he became the biggest model for me, and he's in the movie."[35] After much back and forth between both camps about the issue, during July 2013 Riff Raff announced he was suing the creators of Spring Breakers for $10 million for "sampling" his life without his permission or a proper producer credit.[36]

Portrayal of women

Spring Breakers has generated debate and controversy among critics and bloggers, with some regarding the film as sexist due to its objectification of women, while others viewed the film as a feminist or female empowerment film. In regard to the former perspective, The Guardian suggests that the film "reinforces rape culture" and "turns young women into sex objects",[37] while other reviewers state that it "pushes booze-and-bikini hedonism to the extreme",[38] as the "camera glides up, down and around these women's bodies like a giant tongue."[39] In regard to the latter perspective, the women are not depicted as the film's victims, but arguably as antiheroes, acting according to their own power and agency. According to Rolling Stone, the film presents "a kind of girl-power camaraderie that could almost be called feminist", a result of the director's intent to "do the most radical work, but put it out in the most commercial way (...) to infiltrate the mainstream".[40] In his review of the film, Richard Roeper wrote "Korine's camera is nearly an intrusive weapon as he lingers over the soft, limber bodies of Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and his wife, Rachel Korine.... I think that's sort of the point. When a pre-med student on spring break loses her top, drinks to the point of passing out and grabs a willing lugnut by the ears for six hours of anonymous fun, is she setting the woman's movement back 40 years, or taking charge of her life like any man would do at that age?"[41]

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally favorable reactions from critics. The film holds a 66% approval rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 168 reviews.[42] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 from film critics, it received a rating score of 63, based on 40 critics.[43] Xan Brooks of The Guardian said the film is Korine's "most fully realised, purely satisfying feature film since Gummo. "[44] Emma Seligman of The Huffington Post described the film as "Scarface meets Britney Spears."[45] Oliver Lyttlelton of IndieWire gave the film a B, stating that the film would be a future cult favorite for "midnight moviegoers".[13]

Guy Lodge of Variety gave it a negative review saying, "this attractively fizzy pic may be a shock to the system for fans of teen queens Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, but remains pretty toothless titillation by its writer-helmer's standards."[46] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter noted that James Franco gives one of his more bizarre performances in his unpredictable career, saying "he's a cross between Bo Derek in 10 and Richard Kiel in Moonraker."[47] Andrew Schenker of Slant Magazine gave the film 3 out of 4 stars.[48] Jamie Dunn of The Skinny gave it 4 out of 5 stars, saying: "If Michael Mann was to take a lot of hallucinogenics and shoot a Girls Gone Wild video, it might look something like this."[49] Richard Roeper gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the character of Alien and the film's sense of humor.[41]

In 2016, British film magazine Little White Lies placed the film at number 40 on their list of the 50 best films of the decade (so far).[50]

Top ten lists

Spring Breakers was listed on many critics' top ten lists for 2013.[51]

<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>

Box office

Spring Breakers grossed $14,124,284 in North America and $17,600,000 in other countries for a worldwide total of $31,724,284.[4]

In North America, the film opened to #6 in its first weekend with $4,858,944, behind of The Croods, Admission, The Call, Oz the Great and Powerful, and Olympus Has Fallen.[53]

Oscar campaign for James Franco

A24 Films began a campaign in September 2013 in support of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Franco's performance. This was preceded by the Hollywood.com website that produced a "For your consideration" poster in support of a nomination for Franco in March 2013.[54] On December 2, 2013, A24 published a YouTube video titled "James Franco - Consider this Sh*t" and also released print advertisements following the "Consider this Sh*t" theme.[55] Originally, Internet chatter considered the campaign a joke, but A24 films has since made it clear that the campaign was indeed serious.[56] He has received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (tied with Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club), National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, and San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, while the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association nominated Franco for its Best Supporting Actor award.[57]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Group Date of ceremony Category Recipients Outcome
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards December 19, 2013 Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez & Vanessa Hudgens Nominated
60th Belgian Film Critics Association January 4, 2014 Grand Prix Spring Breakers
2nd Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards December 7, 2013 Top Ten Best Films of the Year Won
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards January 2, 2014 Best Supporting Actor James Franco
Best Cinematography Benoît Debie Nominated
26th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards December 16, 2013 Best Original Score Cliff Martinez & Skrillex
Best Supporting Actor James Franco
Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards December 20, 2013 Best Cinematography Benoît Debie
14th Golden Trailer Awards May 3, 2013 Trashiest Trailer Spring Breakers Won
29th Independent Spirit Awards March 1, 2014 Best Cinematography Benoît Debie Nominated
5th Indiana Film Critics Association Awards December 16, 2013 Best Film Spring Breakers
79th New York Film Critics Circle Awards December 3, 2013 Best Supporting Actor James Franco
39th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards December 8, 2013 Best Supporting Actor Won
12th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards December 9, 2013 Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards December 13, 2013 Best Supporting Actor
12th San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards December 15, 2013 Best Supporting Actor Won
17th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards December 17, 2013 Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Capricho Awards[58] December 18, 2013 Best Make Out Ashley Benson, James Franco & Vanessa Hudgens Nominated
48th National Society of Film Critics Awards January 4, 2014 Best Supporting Actor James Franco Won
69th Venice International Film Festival August 29-September 8, 2012 Future Film Festival Digital Award – Special Mention Harmony Korine
Golden Lion Nominated
MTV Movie Awards April 13, 2014 Best Kiss Ashley Benson, James Franco & Vanessa Hudgens Nominated

Soundtrack

The film score to Spring Breakers was composed by Cliff Martinez and Skrillex, marking the first scoring assignment for the latter.[59] Skrillex was contacted after Korine sent music supervisor Randall Poster links to the electronica artist's music on YouTube. "I'm accustomed to being the oldest person at a gig," said Poster, "but when I went to see Skrillex at Roseland this year, it was dramatic. There were a lot of kids that looked like they were 15 years old. But I loved it. I truly loved it."[60]

Spring Breakers
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released March 19, 2013 (2013-03-19)[61]
Recorded 2012
Genre EDM, southern hip hop
Length 41:06
Label Big Beat, Warner Music
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 68/100[62]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[63]
Consequence of Sound C-[64]
Now NNNN[65]
Pitchfork Media 7.6/10[66]
RedEye 3/4 stars[67]
Rolling Stone 2.5/5 stars[68]
Tampa Bay Times A[69]

Spring Breakers (Music From the Motion Picture) is a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, released on March 19, 2013 by Big Beat Records and Warner Music.[61][70]

No. Title Performer(s) Length
1. "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites"   Skrillex 4:04
2. "Rise and Shine Little Bitch"   Cliff Martinez & Skrillex 0:35
3. "Pretend It's a Video Game"   Cliff Martinez 3:46
4. "With You, Friends (Long Drive)"   Skrillex 6:29
5. "Hangin' with Da Dopeboys"   Dangeruss & James Franco 3:51
6. "Bikinis & Big Booties Y'all"   Cliff Martinez & Skrillex 2:05
7. "Never Gonna Get This Pussy"   Cliff Martinez 4:07
8. "Goin' In" (Skrillex Goin' Down Mix) Birdy Nam Nam 3:38
9. "Fuck This Industry"   Waka Flocka Flame 5:09
10. "Smell This Money"   Skrillex 1:46
11. "Park Smoke"   Skrillex 3:32
12. "Young Niggas"   Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame 3:24
13. "Your Friends Ain't Gonna Leave with You"   Cliff Martinez 5:25
14. "Ride Home"   Skrillex 2:15
15. "Big Bank" (featuring French Montana) Meek Mill, Pill, Torch & Rick Ross 4:44
16. "Son of Scary Monsters"   Cliff Martinez & Skrillex 2:04
17. "Big 'Ol Scardy Pants"   Cliff Martinez 5:30
18. "Scary Monsters on Strings"   Skrillex 4:03
19. "Lights"   Ellie Goulding 3:29
Total length:
 41:06

Sequel

Spring Breakers: The Second Coming was announced in May 6, 2014. Although the storyline will have connections with the previous film, it will include a new cast in addition to the original. The Second Coming, which Irvine Welsh has been attached to script, will focus on a set of Spring Breakers coming into conflict with Christian extremists.[71]

Upon the announcement, Franco released a statement stating that the sequel was "not being done with Harmony Korine or my consent" and that the producers were "capitalizing on that innovative film to make money on a weak sequel" and attempting to "make money off someone else's creativity."[72]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Spring Breakers at Box Office Mojo
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ http://www.indiewire.com/article/indiewires-editors-and-bloggers-pick-this-top-10-films-and-tv-shows-of-2013
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  71. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  72. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Spring_Breakers&oldid=722987058"