How a club bouncer brawl delayed the production of Harmony Korine’s ‘Kids’
Harmony Korine is one of cinema’s most provocative yet uncompromising filmmakers, consistently making movies that stand in direct opposition to the shininess of Hollywood. The American filmmaker often explores the bleak realities of modern life, exploring themes such as poverty, violence, mental illness, substance abuse and depravity.
Before Korine made his directorial debut, Gummo, in 1997, he penned the screenplay for one of the ‘90s most controversial films, Kids. Directed by photographer Larry Clark, the movie follows the lives of several teenagers in New York as they navigate the AIDS crisis.
Clark recruited the young Korine, an avid skateboarder, to write a screenplay about youth culture and AIDS, citing a desire to direct an authentic depiction of the teenage experience. Korine’s script is intense, opening with the rape of a 12-year-old girl by the protagonist, Telly, a slightly older teenager obsessed with taking girls’ virginities. The movie was criticised by some as essentially being child pornography, making the film a highly contentious topic of debate.
Much of the criticism received by Kids is not unfounded, with many viewers finding the movie hard to sit through. While much of the uncomfortable nature of Kids lies in its harrowing realism, it has also been criticised for its depiction of weighty, complex topics. Feminist critic Bell Hooks once described Kids as having “such a conservative take on gender, on race, on the politics of HIV”.
Whether you’re a fan of Kids or not, it is hard to deny how scarily real the movie feels. Due to Korine’s firsthand experience with the kinds of characters, locations and themes we see in Kids, Clark’s movie feels more like a documentary than a piece of fiction.
Unsurprisingly, some of the actors involved in the project had little to no prior acting experience before starring in Kids, which helped aid its naturalism. Yet, one actor, Justin Pierce, leant into his character a little too hard, subsequently ending up under arrest. Pierce, who was an original member of the Supreme Crew, only had a few acting credits to his name when he took on the role of Casper, the best friend of protagonist Telly.
Casper shoplifts and gets into fights, and in one scene, he is seen mercilessly beating a man in the skatepark. However, during production, Pierce acted in a way that wouldn’t have been out of place for his character. A fight with a nightclub bouncer resulted in a broken wrist for the young actor, leading to a temporary delay in production after he had to spend a few nights behind bars.
Luckily for the film crew, Pierce was let out, and filming could continue. Yet, since his character did not wear a cast on his arm, Pierce was forced to go without one until he’d shot all his scenes. This meant that he was in significant pain the whole time, which is why he could be seen awkwardly holding his wrist above his head in the pool scene.
