Try

I found it a bit disturbing, but I thought it was really good. Basically it explores the dreams of a young homeless woman and her views on life and the world around her. To say the least, it was thought-provoking. I was especially drawn to one sequence near the end that juxtaposes various images of modern materialistic culture and the hidden ugliness hiding behind the glamor of typical suburban life. Overall, it presents a rather bleak message; however, it is definately worth at least one viewing.

This wasn't something I had been intentionally looking for. I was sent a link to the shot film by my girlfriend. As I first opened it up, seeing the quality of the description, I didn't expect much. How wrong I was...

The movie is about a drug addict couple, who live on the street and steal, and do drugs and pretty much all the other stuff that you would expect them to do. All the way trough move the girl is commenting and sharing her personal thoughts. As you go trough the film, you start seeing the great disconnection between her real life and what she is telling.

This movie grabbed me in the first minute of watching, kept pulling me deeper right up to the end and spat me out bursting with emotions. The part that intrigued me was the setup - I am interested by paths of life that differ form mine. What makes you watch it trough to the end is that you can't predict the ending. At the beginning it may seem that they will succeed in reaching the dreams that the girl is telling, but as you get further into the movie, you start realizing, that those dreams are most likely to remain just dreams. And the ending - it makes you feel so many different emotions. Sadness. Condemnation. Anger.

To conclude, this movie may disturb you, it may even make you cry, but most importantly it may make you think about life. This quote, I think, says a lot "It's funny really, how life works. The things you try to hold on to, you try to remember, those are what you end up loosing, and everything that you try to forget, those are thing that stay."

I bought the Smashing Pumpkin's DVD 1991-2000 Greatest Hits Video Collection, and had found this short film in the "Extras" section.

This short film (which used segments for the Smashing Pumpkin's "Try, Try, Try" music video, from their last album, "Machina: The Machines of God")was overall quite disturbing, and yet, very powerful. Despite being short, much was accomplished in portraying the film's message. The images portrayed many of the physical darker images of the world in connection to the more psychological aspects, and there was much foreshadowing. I overall found these image very appropriate and contributed to the film's power. Despite the two characters fateless life of drugs, prostitution, stealing, and so on...you get quite an emotional feeling for the two, as they hang on to each others love to move through the torture they go through.

And even aside those disturbing images, the film ends in a very cold fashion that didn't use any harsh images at all.

Jonas Åkerlund's short film Try (2000) is a graphic depiction of the lives of a homeless couple addicted to heroin. Åkerlund gives us a gritty vision of life on the drug that, in my opinion, is as disturbing as Requiem for a Dream (2000) and all other depictions of heroin use I have seen.

Despite having seen scores of graphic films there are moments in Try that I find difficult to watch. Throughout, it seems as if Åkerlund is being excessively graphic, not to enhance the narrative, but instead merely for shock value. I would not say the film changed my outlook on heroine or added to my knowledge of it. Still, how much character development can you expect in a 15 minute short?

Overall, Try is pretty well done. The ending gives me chills every time I watch it but the story itself is nothing spectacular. It can be found on The Smashing Pumpkins DVD: 1991 - 2000 Greatest Hits Video Collection.

NOTE--THIS IS A VERY ADULT FILM. LETTING KIDS SEE THIS FILM IS PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA, THOUGH VIEWING IT WITH AND DISCUSSING THE FILM WITH TEENS MIGHT BE.

This film is about a couple drug addicts who live on the street. However, oddly, instead of a traditional film about homelessness and addiction, the female lead narrates in a bizarre style that is the exact opposite of what you see on film. For example, she talks on and on at the beginning of the film about how great her life is and how things are getting better--but in reality her life simply can't get much worse. Only later in the film does the narration become a bit more depressing, but by the incredibly gut-wrenching conclusion, it once again is happy and looking to a brighter tomorrow.

This is an incredibly depressing and horrible film to watch. I would imagine that many who do see it will probably find themselves crying or choking back tears, as the film makers did a fantastic job of telling the story. From purely a technical viewpoint as well as its ability to convey a story, this is a brilliant film.

However, be forewarned, it is a very, very tough film and one I don't recommend to kids. Perhaps, though, this WOULD be a great film to show addicts and especially casual users who think drugs can be purely recreational--I can't imagine a better and more sobering wake up call!

Final verdict--brilliant but horrible.