Anyone see 'The Florida Project'?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by slideroni, Oct 16, 2017.

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  1. slideroni

    slideroni Forum Resident Thread Starter

    This is the new film by the guy who did 'Tangerine'. I thought "Tangerine' was hilarious and brilliant.
    'The Florida Project' is brilliant, but flawed, IMO. Could've been edited to a third shorter. While the director did a great job of getting kids to act natural, too much time with the kids. Willem Dafoe did quite well, also the female lead.
    What mystifies me is the final scene, shot on an Iphone (as the whole of 'Tangerine' was). According to IMDB, it was shot at Disney World without their permission or knowledge. Disney has battalions of lawyers on retainer- how are they getting away with this?
     
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  2. Greenalishi

    Greenalishi Birds Aren’t Real

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Just saw The Florida Project. Excellent movie. Lots of moments just to be enjoyed on their own. All the children playing wondering scenes are just that, to me. Just kids being kids. It's a tearjerker at the end, i couldn't help it man. Tears galore. Saw the director only Charlie Rose last night saw the movie today. Really good movie. The look of the Florida overly stylized buildings and jello colors just give this a sense of weirdness but it's a real place.

    I liked the whole thing and the mom in the movie, to me, is the stealer. Just a complete person. The kids and Willam Dafoe were great too. But, man she is like someone you have known. A full person, not a role. Excellent movie. What i'm looking for in a film. Loved it. Just burrowed in my brain and i'm pondering all of it's scenes.

    The director pointed out it was more than a movie to him. It's to show the reality around the happiest place on earth. Funnily I remember a doc on LA's disneyland which was the same as the one in Florida. All these motels with families who work in the area that will never see the inside of Disney. Poverty at the doorstep of the happiest place on earth. And the people who work in the industry but could never afford the fun of it. I guess an obvious microcosim of the USA really. The struggle.

    The Florida Project is an excellent movie. Take it as it is just as a series of childhood moments not as a direct narrative in every scene and maybe it may be easier to get? But, i really liked it wouldn't cut a thing. Really beautiful.
     
  3. Hightops

    Hightops Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, Ca
    This is a great flick, but it's also hard to watch. One keeps waiting for something bad to happen. Isn't it inevitable? As a snapshot of people living in the margins of American society, it's a powerful portrait. Those kids delivered big time.
     
  4. Greenalishi

    Greenalishi Birds Aren’t Real

    Location:
    San Francisco
    The kids delivered. The mom was off the charts. Just so real. I've known her. Amazing performance.
     
  5. mrjinks

    mrjinks Optimistically Challenged

    Location:
    Boise, ID.
    Just saw this, not really knowing what to expect [thanks to Moviepass, I’m seeing more films that I’d typically skip over]. Pretty amazing film. How is the mom not being mentioned in the Best Actress discussion? :wtf:

    Read the post above from @Greenalishi - it’s worth reading - then go see the movie. :)
     
  6. peopleareleaving

    peopleareleaving Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Outstanding film with some great performances.
     
  7. clashcityrocker

    clashcityrocker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Great White North
    Finally saw this and it was fantastic. Sean Baker creates a vivid world of kids running amuck in a welfare motel that is mesmerizing and thoughtful. The obvious standout is Brooklynn Prince as Moonee as a 6-year-old child trapped in a no-win existence but triumphs in her will to find happiness. She is unbelievable I'm not sure how she was capable of acting and improvising on that level. A star is born.

    But the story of the "hidden homeless" ironically blocks away from "the greatest place on earth" is what hits home by the end. It is an uncomfortable ending but a message we should be reminded of. I lived in these places as a kid and I did the same thing playing games with the other kids just running wild for the entire day but getting reminded of our tough life when police cars would show up and we'd find out about a murder-suicide. Loved the cinematography by Alexis Zabe; the production design was outstanding.

    Getting a lot of accolades is Willem Dafoe, one of my perennial favourites. As manager Bobby he is a hope but ultimately is ineffectual. Very flawed character but Dafoe is so perfect it almost seems he's not acting. Sean Baker's favourite film is Von Trier's The Idiots which walks the line between pathos and humour and Florida Project does the same. It has tons of laughs but also a heavy message. A true work of art. See it.
     
  8. Great flic. The kids were well directed and Defoe and the actress who played the Mom was outstanding.
     
  9. Greenalishi

    Greenalishi Birds Aren’t Real

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Clash and Prog, i concur. Clash you really nailed the point and feel of the film. Prog i'm with you on the mom. She is the real standout for me. Just feels like someone i know. Amazing to me. Excellent film.

    I don't know this directors other films or the film you mentioned The Idiots. I'll check 'em out. Thanks.
     
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  10. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Just saw this - it was a chore! Yeah, the end scenes were emotional, but otherwise a bore. It was basically a movie about poverty, parental neglect and child abuse by circumstance. Not my cup of tea at all.
     
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  11. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US

    I was thinking about picking up the phone halfway through the film and calling Florida Child Services myself to end the movie quicker.
     
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  12. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    From what I hear, it wasn’t a performance at all.
     
  13. Kevin In Choconut Center

    Kevin In Choconut Center Offensive Coordinator

    I just watched this film on DVD and honestly, it got to me. I've lived in places like that at times, and seen both the best and the worst of things. I've given spare change to kids like Moonee, knowing that it means the world to them just to be able to get an ice cream cone to share with friends. Hell, as a kid growing up, I was that kid at times. Trailer parks, motels, run down apartment buildings...there are a million stories to be told. I know, because I could tell quite a few myself, from both childhood and adulthood.

    As someone with a background in cinema, I wouldn't change one thing about the final cut of this film. As someone who can verify from personal experience, I'm telling you that this film really nails what goes on every day in real life.
     
  14. Wingman

    Wingman Bored of the Rings

    Location:
    Europe
    Garbage.
     
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  15. Rockinrob

    Rockinrob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    great film. I loved the the balance between kids - jubilant, wild and free and the sense of impeding doom the viewer feels. Either at their inevitable future of repeating their parent's mistakes, or at something that could happen to them in the now.

    The film does a great job of not judging the parents, and I think hints at how this is a circle. That mother's anger, entitlement and whole being is something that she cannot get over, and that is what she has to do to find stability and a way out. I guess this is where some of the doom comes from - we know she probably can't do it, and her daughter will be there in a few years too.

    It's interesting thinking about how as the viewer, we know exactly what these people should be doing, but can't see or don't feel the have the capability to change - however, what of ourselves can we not see that is getting in the way of our own happiness & well being?

    I'll be thinking about this film for a long time
     
  16. Greenalishi

    Greenalishi Birds Aren’t Real

    Location:
    San Francisco
    So Right On. You nailed my musings and thoughts perfectly and articulately.
     
  17. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Good observations, Rockinrob. It did make me wonder whether the kid actors themselves, knew what they were going to be facing in the last few scenes, or if the director had to hold it back to get real reactions on camera.

    I am not a parent; so for me it was quite reminiscent of times when I've been in the presence of badly-managed children taking every advantage of weary, untrained parents in public, and reminding myself, as traumatic is is for me,
    the parents have seen it all before dozens of times before breakfast, and they deserve my patience.

    In case you have not sussed this out on your own...there may be some merits here, but this is NOT a great date movie. It is everybhing a sane parent (or legal guardian) would come to the movies to get a way from. If this ever comes to commercial TV, broadcast or cable, Trojans needs to jump on the sponsorship.

    It's been several months since I put myself through this, so I may have had more to say about it on the way out of the theater that evening. I can't say "it sticks with you", but obviously I haven't forgotten about it.
     
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  18. Mainline461

    Mainline461 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tamiami Trail
    I live less than an hour from where this was filmed. Although I have no idea how it must feel to live on the edge, unable to plan a future, living day to day ... that being said, I felt this film transported me to that dynamic. Gripping film, highly recommended for those that feel they can appreciate the human emotions that can be brought by great performances, directing, etc.
     
  19. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I also loved the film for its uncanny ability to portray the concededly fictional lives of the characters in a way that made it seem almost too real. Too real is in both disturbing but also at times exhilarating. And how did they get such convincing performances from this cast? Concededly Willem Dafoe is a great actor AND well cast in this film, but so was everyone well cast. And directed.

    Speaking of Dafoe I saw the film twice and the first time I thought his character was intended to serve as the eyes of the audience, as the sort of Greek chorus to the goings on. But actually I think that role on second viewing was more subtly played by the little read headed girl whose name escapes me. It felt on second viewing like we were seeing her character develop but as if we were "developing" with her.

    A very unusual but excellent film.
     
  20. Rockinrob

    Rockinrob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Also, how risky is it to base a film almost entirely on the shoulders of those kids?!
     
  21. Hardy Melville

    Hardy Melville Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Yes, and even most of the camera angles were from the height of a child's perspective.
     
  22. PhilBorder

    PhilBorder Senior Member

    Location:
    Sheboygan, WI
    Very good movie, but I gather (based on the 'making of' featurette) the kids weren't acting as much as prompted. Then the 'script' was changed to accomodate their best takes, or whatever they said that was funny or relevant. Not that that's not a legitimate way to work. It was interesting to see one of those 'hidden-in-plain-site' parts of society that are seldom (never) shown, with some compassion cut with realism. You realize none of their lives were probably going to get any better.

    Can you imagine that motel when a hurricane hits?
     
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  23. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    Liked it, didn't love it. It really captured how a kid makes anything into a play world, took me back to playing in my field when I was a kid.
    The mother was just totally unlikable and (while believable) dragged things down.
    Dafoe was very good, don't know if it was Oscar nominated good, but he's had so many other great roles. Loved his scene with the cranes.
     
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  24. Humbler

    Humbler Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tampa
    I do business in the same area the movie was made. It is a great but difficult movie because there are a lot of these cheap motels along this stretch, filled with the same down and out last chance types. I have been approached by people selling all kinds of junk like the fragrances.It's an incredibly depressing area to me because there are thousands of out of state/foreign visitors in the area that are seemingly oblivious to the squalor while dumping huge money for the Disney experience.
     
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  25. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Things are different these days. Back in the 70's, I shot some footage in the Magic Kingdom with my 16mm camera, and right away, they asked me to stop filming as it was not the usual 8mm or super-8 type of camera's that the tourists use.

    They filmed the scenes along Main Street U.S.A. with an iPhone 6S. How many people are walking around the park with iPhone's, talking, using apps, taking pictures and shooting video's? Disney has no legal standing on what someone does with their pictures and movies.

    They could sue, if the production were to use footage that included any parades or shows, as these are copyrighted materials and are therefore protected as such. Their unauthorized use is prohibited by statute.

    The name of the motel in the movie was called the Magic Castle Inn and Suites, there are 138 reviews on Trip Advisor. Disney did try (unsuccessfully) to prohibit the production company from using that name in the movie because the thought that name was too close of an association with Cinderella's Castle.

    [​IMG]

    Here are a couple of reviews;

    "Now made famous as the location of "The Florida Project" movie with Willem Defoe.
    Stayed here once and now it has found fame as the location for the Florida Project 2017 with Willem Defoe. It was a little bit basic when we stayed but looks as though it has gone downhill. Noisy helicopters doing sightseeing tours take off beside the motel.

    " Health hazard!!!!
    Believe the reviews, this place is horrible. My fiancé and I stayed here after a booking mix up with another hotel. It was the last weekend for Halloween Horror Nights, so all of the surrounding hotels were booked. The first room we were put into smelled strongly of mold and mildew, and had 2 small beds, and we’d asked for a King room. We went back to the office and the clerk moved us into another room, which smelled just as horrible. When I say horrible..."

    The above review is so funny, because they have a scene in the movie where a couple had booked a room at this hotel by accident.

    Suggested Reading: All of the reviews, because the motel is so terribly reviewed, that it is funny.

    That is the problem when you make this type of movie, which although fictional, could be a documentary (which is how it was mostly shot). They used the iPhone in several scenes at the motel.

    So, assuming that you read some reviews to get the gist of what the movie was about, what aroused your curiosity enough to go see it?

    So I take it that the film didn't exactly resonate with you either?

    Well I don't think that you can take it that far...

    From Wekipedia:

    The Florida Project premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 6, 2017, by A24. The film was praised for its direction and acting, particularly the performances of Prince and Dafoe. It was chosen by both the National Board of Review and American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of the year.[5][6]Willem Dafoe earned Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and BAFTA Awards.[7][8]Brooklyn Prince won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer.

    Brooklynn Prince played the part of Moonee (as Brooklynn Kimberly Prince), a six year old girl.

    [​IMG]



    Willem Dafoe played the part of Bobby, the Manager of the Magic Castle Motel and Suites.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2018
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