Marfa Girl (2012)

Larry Clark continues with his oppressed-Mexican-skater motif after a seven year dry spell with "Marfa Girl", a follow-up to his 2005 film, "Wassup Rockers". It's tells a pretty similar story, which I must say, didn't really 'grab' me that much this time around. I guess I'm more fond of Clark's earlier, more 'daring' brand of film-making which he seems to be steadily gravitating away from with these last few releases that seem a lot more sappy and repetitive. Not to say "Marfa Girl" is shit, but it's definitely one of his slowest movies.

It's a slice-of-life portrait of life on the American-Mexican border for one particular Tex-Mex teenager who encounters unusual situations and characters throughout his rural-based day-to-day life - most notably a sadistic boarder patrol officer with a deep-seated proclivity for sadomasochism. He also hangs out with a group of indignant Mexican low-lives in an electro-punk band - one of whom is a young mother who is desperate to fuck a 16-year old on his birthday and eager to becoming a stripper. There's also a pregnant teacher who enjoys paddling inattentive students after class, as well as a rampant gutter-slut, out-of-towner artist who is DTF no matter fucking WHAT. Things come to a head when the artist eventually joins a drug-fueled group sex session with three of the local border patrolmen - including the white, masochistic officer who has a complete mental breakdown, resulting in a bit of violent turn of events...

While it's on par with his previous feature, "Wassup Rockers", in terms of it being a discernible departure from the more 'taboo' sustained flicks Clark is generally known for, like "Kids", "Bully" and "Ken Park", "Marfa Girl" splits the difference a bit, in comparison with "Rockers", as far as more contestable content goes. It features a bit more sex, nudity, violence, a shot of a hard dick, implied rape and the sexual abuse of a child, though it still remains considerably subdued in comparison to the aforementioned films. Clark is obviously into portraying his Mexican subjects in a more respectable light then he has been known to do with the obnoxious, degenerate wiggers of his past adolescent 'explorations', typically leaving them to fill the spot of the racist villain. This influence of cultural animosity lends a more stilted kind of cinematic basis of the poor discriminated immigrants and the caucasian 'bad guys' in almost a caricaturized simplification. Clark's agenda is getting tiring as far as I'm concerned and I hope to see him return to his more candid roots.

Like I said, "Marfa Girl" was a little thematically redundant after "Wassup Rockers" and, while it wasn't as 'light' as that film, it's a pretty unremarkable furtherance in depletion of Clark's controversial 'edge' that once was. Hopefully he gets back on track with a more abrasive effort in the future, as I will continue to see what he has to offer out of admiration of his cutting-edge potentiality.