We Were Once Kids

The movie kids, tho great in many ways, is an emotionless affair. Literally characters who find out they have aids don't cry, they just kinda panic. Nobody seems to, or is depicted to, feel anything in that world.

We Were Once Kids is like the photo negative of that. It's emotionally raw, very vulnerable, pathetic even, embarrassing. And I mean all that as a compliment. Here we see young men grappling honestly with regrets, unrealized dreams, friendships, and new realities, they aren't too cool to walk us through the process of finding adult perspectives on hard childhoods, lost childhoods, opportunities - particularly one stinging reveal that was and is forever lost. Even cast wise: the side characters are the stars, the stars mostly absent.

It's a great depiction of the chance to be in the moons orbit and never getting to land there. The filmmakers are in tremendous company.

I've not watched Kids since it was released. I was 18 and it shocked me. It shocked a lot of people. I'd not seen anything like it. No one had. What is this? Was a common question? Is this real? Was another. Whether you liked it or not, there's no denying it was fresh and thought provoking. We Were Once Kids is a documentary about the film, its cast and its production. I've wanted to see this for a while, but it's not easy to find in the U. K. In fact it's near impossible, I had to watch on DocPlay via a VPN. Kids is quintessential 90s, but as this doc explains, it's about youth born into 70/80s New York. A place to aspire escape from. That escape is skate culture, bringing people of all types together. One of the big questions of Kids was, where are the parents? These kids are wild! The truth is the parents were wilder. Drugged up or dead as crack exploded through the city. Much of this back story comes from writer Hamilton Harris, he had a smaller role in the film, but he's a big part of this documentary. Painting a vivid picture of a society that's the very definition of dysfunctional. So was it real? Yeah kinda. Some of these people were friends before the cameras rolled. More than that, they were family, replacing what was absent at home. It's fascinating to hear how organically it grew. Kids bonding over skating, weed, a simple need to have someone to hang out with. Hamilton, meets Harold Hunter, Harold introduces Harmony (Korine) a kid from out of town. Tobin Yelland is hanging around and introduces an older dude, Larry Clark into the mix. He runs a photography workshop, loves skateboards, wants to make a film. You can see where this is going. It's all a joke to begin. Larry's gonna shoot a movie, Harmony's gonna write it, we're all gonna be in it. Just a laugh right? Not everyone from the film speaks here and some like Leo Fitzpatrick who played Telly tellingly doesn't feature at all, others are referred to via archive footage alone and there's a lot of archive. Like Justin Pierce, who it's said always wanted to act, he's not interviewed as he took his own life at the age of 25, but he and Harold (who also died young) are the ringmasters, bringing kids to Larry to be cast in the film. It's weird, they know it's weird. Who's this old dude hanging around with a bunch of kids. But it's exciting for them and what else are they going to do? That is unless you're a girl. Highlyann Krasnow (great name) reads Harmony's script and clocks it for its "rape and misogyny". She wants no part, so the casting net widens. Enter people like Jon Abrahams, who talks about going with the flow, doing what Larry says, being stoned while shooting. Javier Nunez, no idea how old he was at the time but very young, smoking a load of joints then passing out. Honestly it's troubling. Most of these kids were from broken homes, vulnerable and it's clear they were taken advantage of. The shoot wraps. They watch a screener and have a party, sign some papers, except some cash. "We were left where we started from". The film goes to festivals and boom! What are these kids doing on screen? How old are they? Are they old enough? Larry Clark doesn't have the answers, because clearly some of them are not. To him, it's just a movie, but it's not is it. It feels real because so much of it is, there's no fluff, it's handheld lofi doc style screams authenticity and it connects. In America at least, audiences bond with it in the same way that those kids bonded before Larry even turned up. The fallout is intense. Some feed off it, like Harold who laps up the limelight, others feel exposed and used. Others choose to distance themselves from everyone. "I remember watching Harmony transform into a person I didn't recognise". The leads, Justin, Jon, Harold, Rosario Dawson, Chloë Sevigny, all have opportunities, it's a stepping stone. Everyone else, it's a dead weight. The movie is a hit. It makes millions. Guess who's cashing in... and who's not. It's a tragic story and very little positive comes from Kids. We Were Once Kids is enlightening, but it's not an easy watch and with that in mind, now I'm going to rewatch Kids.

I did not know about the death of 2 of the lead characters. I have to say it is not really surprising. Coming from that background and environment, it was highly likely going to happen to some of them.

I grew up in a small town in Scotland, and many of my friends I grew up with are now dead at 45; suicide, drugs, the same old same old. Like a universal principle unfortunately. The location changes, but the stories the same. It can be easy to shift blame, but drug addiction and broken families were the largest factors I suspect in their early death. This is not to say that Hamilton is wrong. My feelings are that the movie helped some of the cast in the long run, and had unintended consequences for others. Over all though, was the effect positive or negative? Without stepping foot in an alternative reality, we will never know for sure. Changed the course of participants lives for sure.

For sure they were under paid, but at what point does Harmony and Larry's responsibility end. There were a lot of kids in that movie to adopt. Maybe its a glass half full, half empty scenario. I see them all as legends: cast and crew.

I thank the cast of Kids and all the crew members, as it was a important movie for me, and film that really made me think. Unfortunately the camera verte approach, simply could not have been replicated through paid professional cast members.

Kids was a bold movie, and many do say unethical. From my view, a part of cultural history would be missing without this movie. No one would ever know in future generations what it was like to grow up as an underprivileged kid in New York in the 90's.

Fantastic movie, fantastic follow up documentary. I'd be up for watching more if they can get hold of more cast and crew.

I don't believe Larry Clark had a hidden agenda. He clearly was in awe of how this crew of loyal skaters were living life raw and unedited. It was after meeting and reading Harmony Korine's screenplay he felt it had potential to be a full length motion picture. So turning to his connections in the film industry such as Gus Van Sant, for example to make it happen. At this point is when i felt some of the cast got taken advantage of in terms of pay being the classic it still it to date but on the other hand $1,000 is a considerable amount for those who hardly had any screen time. I don't agree with Clark turning ghost after filming completed since it was a community of people who value friendship, loyalty and commitment from eachother. I understand life moves on for everyone but I'm sure some of the kids just felt dismissed by Larry & Harmony. But neither should be a scapegoat for anyone's failed career since half the cast are now very well established actors/actresses. This is my outsiders perspective, for what it's worth.

So after watching KIDS I was looking up Justin Pierce Because I was fairly sure I had seen him in some other movies Anyway this documentary about the movie came up So I decided to watch it (Not that it changed my opinion of KIDS) But it did make me feel bad about what the actors went through Larry Clark is a low life scum of the earth Who took advantage of street kids with little or no education It was tragic to learn of the deaths of Justin Pierce and Harold Hunter Very informative and interesting documentary I would highly recommend watching this Strictly my opinion But I think it's better than the actual movie.