Marfa Girl
| Marfa Girl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Larry Clark |
| Produced by |
Win Craft Adam Sherman |
| Written by | Larry Clark |
| Starring |
Drake Burnette Lindsay Jones Adam Mediano Jeremy St. James |
| Cinematography | David Newbert |
| Editing by | Affonso Gonçalves |
| Distributed by | Larry Clark |
| Release dates | November 20, 2012 |
| Running time | 106 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2 million |
Marfa Girl is a 2012 drama film written and directed by Larry Clark, and released on his website. The film follows a group of young people living in the West Texas town of Marfa near the Mexico–United States border. The movie won the Marcus Aurelius Award for Best Film at the 2012 Rome Film Festival.[1]
Plot
Marfa Girl follows Adam (Adam Mediano), a directionless 16-year-old boy, in the days surrounding his sixteenth birthday. The film details his relationships and interactions with the other inhabitants of the small Texas town, including his 16-year-old girlfriend Inez (Mercedes Maxwell), his 23-year-old neighbor Donna (Indigo Rael) who attempts to seduce him as a sixteenth birthday present, his teacher (Lindsay Jones) who is eager to deal out corporal punishment, and a newly arrived local artist (Drake Burnette) who also seeks to have sex with Adam.[2][3]
A sub-plot involves Tom (Jeremy St. James), a mentally unstable border patrol agent who becomes fixated on Adam's mother (Mary Farley), as well as on Adam's girlfriend and Adam himself.[2][3]
Cast
- Adam Mediano as Adam
- Drake Burnette as Marfa Girl
- Jeremy St. James as Tom
- Mary Farley as Mary
- Mercedes Maxwell as Inez
- Indigo Rael as Donna
- Jessie Tejada as Jessie
- Richard Covurrubias as Chachi
- Erik Quintana as Erik
- Lindsay Jones as Miss Jones
- Ulysses Lopez as Ulysses
- Jimmy Gonzales as Oscar
- Elizabeth Castro as Angie
- Nathan Stevens as Ty
- Rodrigo Lloreda as Rodrigo
Production
Marfa Girl was shot exclusively in Marfa, a small town in Presidio County, Texas. The town had previously been used as the filming location for the critically acclaimed 1956 film Giant, which was also the last movie to star James Dean.[4] Clark cast a mix of professional and non-professional actors for the roles in Marfa Girl.[4]
Release
Marfa Girl premiered at the 2012 Rome Film Festival where it won top honors. On November 20, 2012, Marfa Girl was released on Larry Clark's website priced at $5.99 for one-day streaming access.[1] There are no plans to release the film in theaters or on DVD.[5] Clark has said that this online-only distribution was a way of bypassing "crooked Hollywood distributors".[1] Past films by Clark, such as Ken Park, have had difficulty in distribution because of their subject matter.[6]
Critical reception
Despite winning the award for best film at the Rome Film Festival, the major critical attention directed at Marfa Girl has generally been more lukewarm in its enthusiasm. Boyd van Hoeij of Variety praised the cinematography while directing criticism at the acting of some cast members and the generally shallow plot, mentioning that "the sex and nudity are as plentiful as the plot and teen characters are thin."[2] Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter praised some aspects of the dialogue and cinematography, but said that the cinematography was "nothing new" and looked at times as if "it was ripped out of a Levi's ad."[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Brooks, Xan (19 November 2012). "Marfa Girl triumphs at Rome film festival". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 van Hoeij, Boyd (12 November 2012). "Marfa Girl". Variety. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mintzer, Jordan (11 November 2012). "Marfa Girl: Rome Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Five Questions with Marfa Girl Director Larry Clark". Filmmaker Magazine. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
- ↑ Jagernauth, Kevin (12 November 2012). "Exclusive: Clip & Behind The Scenes Photos From Larry Clark's 'Marfa Girl'". The Playlist. Indiewire.
- ↑ Needham, Kirsty (4 July 2003). "Police quiz critic after raid". The Age. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
External links
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