Spring Breakers is a 2012 teen movie set in this moment in time about 4 american college girls who go on spring break together to get away from their education and university, ‘find themselves’ and basically go wild. The film follows these girls on their Spring Break and their subsequent use of drugs, alcohol, crime and violence. I stumbled across this movie back in 2012 when i saw photographs from the film appear on photography websites such as http://weheartit.com/ and I was intrigued.
The Plot
The film opens using film footage from a beach party in slow motion and hundreds of youths having the time of their lives, taking in huge amounts of alcohol and letting loose. It then switches to the lives of four teenage girls Candy, Cotty, Faith and Brittany who are all students still in education at university. Brittany, Candy and Cotty spend their time going to house partys and getting completely hammered whilst also engaging in heavy drug use. Faith on the other hand regularly attends a local religious youth group, yet she doesnt seem engaged or interested in it, her body language shows her mind is usually on other things. After noticing that all the classmates have gone off to have their spring break the girls all realize they are desperate to leave their college lives and go have their own spring break. However they are stuck behind due to their lack of cash and decide the only way they are going to get the money is if they do something totally reckless and become criminals. After getting high on cocaine Brittany and Candy decide that they will use their realistic looking squirt guns, balaclavas and hammers to perform an armed robbery in a local restaurant. They steal one of their professors cars and use it as their transport for the plan. Cotty acts as the getaway driver to take them and collect them from the immoral scene they create. After the armed robbery they burn the car to dispose of any evidence they have made. Faith plays no part in this plan and doesn’t even find out until they are actually on Spring Break and she seems to know deep inside her that it was completely wrong what they did, but shes glad they did it as it was for good reason and she pushes any thoughts aside to just focus on right now.
Whilst getting involved in every aspect of spring break they girls attend wild beach parties and take part in reckless behavior, whilst simultaneously getting completely drugged up and baked. The film involves clips that have been edited to look how the people in the shot are portrayed to drugged up party goers. The colours are so bright and then grainy whilst moving looking like someone is stirring the images. There are then clips that have been filmed through hand held camera videoing the beach party from the point of view of one of the party goers. The girls show their unashamed and wild characters by performing suggestive acts and urinating in the street. They get mopeds and drive them around Florida completely unaware of the world around them, just focusing on the moment and doing the fun, crazy stuff that you can only do when your on holiday. The trip takes a turn for the worst when the party is crashed by the police and the girls and several other party animals get arrested and have to spend the night in a cell.
Faith, being the sensible one feels worried and upset. Meanwhile the other girls seem to go along with the arrest but feel down and just want to get out and carry on partying. The girls are then unexpectedly bailed out of jail by local rapper and gangster Alien (James Franco). Faith is suspicious about him and is taken aback by his decision. The other girls don’t seem at all fazed and go along with Alien. He tells them about his childhood, his wealth and his occupation as an illegal drug dealer and gunman. He takes them to a local gang club where Faith feels uncomfortable and decides she can be doing with this. She begs the other girls to come home with her but they refuse, never the less, she leaves to go home as spring break wasn’t supposed to go that way.
The remaining three girls join Alien in his occupation and help him sell drugs and rob other unfortunate spring breakers. Obviously with being involved in the drug industry, Alien is in with an extremely rough crowd of other drug sellers and a feud becomes between him and another dealer. During this feud Cotty is shot by a member of the gang of the opposing dealer and she becomes totally traumatized and shocked by the event and decides to leave for home. Spring Break is over for her.
Candy and Brittany are left remaining and form a sexual relationship with Alien and the three of them decide to take revenge on the dealer who shot Cotty. This ends is Alien getting shot and Candy and Brit shooting all the opposing dealers gang and the dealer himself, before driving away in his Lamborghini and an end shot of them both bending down to tenderly kiss Alien on the lips as he lies lifeless on the floor.
By the end of the film you get the idea that they have got the partying and drug and alcohol taking out of their system and they are ready to come home, as the film uses a voice over from Candy of her on the phone to her mum telling her the trip was ‘beautiful’ and ‘inspiring’.
The movie includes an incredible cast most of which are recognizable and two in particular from Disney programmes and High School Musical:
Cast
- James Franco as Alien
- Vanessa Hudgens as Candy
- Selena Gomez as Faith
- Ashley Benson as Brittany
- Rachel Korine as Cotty
My opinion of the film is that its basically like a really long music video. The soundtrack to it is really good and includes artists like Ellie Goulding and Skrillex. I also admire the way its been filmed, using different lighting to convey the mood of the scene, for example when Cotty is shot a red lighting is used. Another thing i picked up from watching it is that there are flash forward shots and then back to reality. I think this is rather clever as it gives you a hint of what happens next and then you get taken back to the present.
I would recommend this film to someone who wants a movie that will mesmerize you with all the colours and quirky shots. I have only watched it twice now but I do think I would like to watch it again as it makes you want to plan your summer holiday for just you and your friends to get away from your life in education.
Jessica Morris's AS Blog 