This is one of those films that immediately makes me see the world differently. It gives me the same quiet feeling that 'Lost In Translation' does - one of subtle, awareness. It's weird, it's like after watching it I experience reality just a little more acutely. 'Off The Map' has the same effect.
It's shot very matter-of-fact, no bullshit flashy effects or attention-whoring performances - just honest filmmaking and editing. As a matter of fact, the editing is awesome, not at all understated or manipulative, it cuts when a cut is required, regardless of what's happening onscreen. It doesn't pander or condescend, it assumes that the viewer is astute enough to appreciate it's genuineness and honesty.
So, the lead character Alex is a skater kid (in highschool) who at some point accidentally kills a man. But half of the movie is about his life, told non-linearly. We get clips and pieces of before and after the murder, all mixed up, and it's up to the viewer to put the pieces together to figure out what happened.
Alex is not extraordinary, he doesn't skate well, and is kind of a dork. He has a hot cheerleader girlfriend who eventually puts out (a very nice, understated, abstract scene) but he dumps her soon after. His main concern is emotional and spiritual.
Throughout the film I really felt his boredom and listlessness. Not in a bad way mind you, it's beautifully shot and cut, but the sense of hopelessness and anxiety hangs in the air pretty deep.
Paranoid Park is a skate park built (as we're told in the somewhat unnecessary voice-over) by skaters themselves. One of the highschool kids remarks that it's 'scary'. I got the sense that that is because it's so small and confined, a little claustrophobic. Alex never skates there, only choosing to watch (the quintessential outsider) as other, more experienced guys weave in and out between each other on the ramps.
Van Sant mixes slo-mo and full-speed shots very nicely, putting almost half of the film to a soundtrack alone - inducing the effect of a trip or drunken memories. It's very subtle, but extremely effective. I wish I could make my films look the way he makes his look - surreal, but not unintelligible.
There's a scene where Alex breaks up with his girlfriend, and instead of giving it away literally, Van Sant slowly implies the purpose of the conversation, no sound, only the girlfriend's reaction and we're left to ponder the meaning of her expressions and body language, until it slowly becomes obvious what is happening, then the audio kicks in and we get confirmation that, yes, this is the breakup. It's pretty masterful, the slo-mo/ambient audio/music IMHO.
All in all, a very nice piece of cinema as far as I am concerned. Shot with subtlety and edited with taste and artistry. Van Sant knows what the fuck he is doing, and in Paranoid Park, he does it well.
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