Violences sur la ville

"Over the Edge" is a powerful, unforgettable 1979 film about a planned suburban community, New Granada, where all the adults are worried only about bringing much-needed money and business to the struggling, barren dump of a town. What the adults don't seem to realize is that more than half of the population is made up of pre-teens and teenagers who drink, smoke weed, do hard drugs, play with guns, and destroy property because these parents and adults have given them nothing to do; nothing constructive whatsoever. These are NOT bad kids. I felt for them. They are victims of their environment and complete lack of parental attention. When the kids finally become restless and hopeless, havoc ensues, but most of it is created by the town Police Chief Doberman, who has no business whatsoever dealing with youth. The only place the kids have to go is the recreation center, managed by a truly sympathetic and understanding young woman. Of course, the town officials fire her. In 1979, this film was rated PG. It's a STRONG "PG". If this film were made today (and I doubt it would be) I imagine it would receive at least a PG-13 or maybe even an R. Children as young as thirteen/fourteen are seen dropping acid, smoking hash, guzzling liquor, shooting guns, getting into fights, etc. AND IT IS ALL THE FAULT OF THE ADULTS, WHO ARE TOTALLY BLIND! Matt Dillon's film debut, and an unknown actor, young Tom Fergus, gives the most natural performance from a kid I have ever seen as Claude, the kid most heavily involved in drugs. SEEK THIS OUT! IT IS UNFORGETTABLE! If anyone reading this has any info on Tom Fergus, I'd love to see what he's up to now. Also features an awesome soundtrack by The Cars, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Little Feat, and Jimi Hendrix. This has become a cult classic in many youth circles, and is an early film by acclaimed director Jonothan Kaplan. Pops up on HBO and Cinemax occasionally, is available on tape, and is said to be coming to DVD soon. A masterwork.

I saw Over the Edge on a pay channel recently.

I was struck by how much it reminded me of my Jr High days in Central Texas in the late 70's. Some of the things that were strikingly similar my own experiences:

• the way the kids looked, dressed, and acted

• the landscape

• high school

• houses

• partially completed building sites

• basement parties

• the rec center (we had one in our town)

All very authentic. The only thing that broke the spell of realism was the somewhat stereotypical way the adults were portrayed, but I guess it was a necessary plot device.

One scene particularly brought back a memory that I hadn't thought about in some time. The kids are in the house under construction playing with the loaded gun. It accidentally goes off, and Carl pretends to have been hit.

In our town, one of the kids in the neighborhood accidentally shot in the head and killed another neighborhood kid with his father's pistol.

The kids are not all right in New Granada!

This film very accurately portrays what life was really like for many teenagers who lived in the suburbs during the 1970s.

Growing up, my own life was very much like those of the teens in this movie: I was a teenager in the mid-70s and I lived in exactly the same sort of constantly under-development, suburban wasteland where whole mobs of kids were pretty much left to their own devices by parents who were too busy chasing the American Dream to notice what we were really up to; a place where there was easy access to lots and lots of cheap drugs and alcohol, and where boredom reigned supreme (remember, these were the days before the Internet, VCRs, or even home video games).

If you were ever rebellious and grew up during the same time period and in the same sort of suburban community, then I guarantee that virtually every character in this movie will remind you of someone you knew back then (maybe even yourself!).

With all of today's problems plaguing teens and their parents, this movie may seem a bit tame, but at the time of its release, it had a pretty powerful message (assuming anyone paid attention). I remember watching this with some kids who were about the same age as those portrayed in the movie... These kids all thought this was the best movie ever made, and some commented that they wanted to do pretty much everything they saw in the movie. I remember thinking (not unlike "Billy Jack"), "why would you want to live in a community like this, where all the adults either hate you or fear you? To this day, I am drawn to and repulsed by this movie. That being said, I can't wait to get copy of this on DVD!!! It really was a good film, and I think it captured some of uglier realities of life in some of the "planned communities" of the time.

Despite the melodramatic ending this film is very realistic and thoughtful. This is Matt Dillon's first movie and he is very natural and believable. Because the film was shot on location it had a fantastic look and feel. If you want to know what it felt like being a young teenager in 1979 or even now, then rent this film.