FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Larry Clark - Wassup Rockers

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Wassup Rockers is about another day off in the life of a clique of Latino friends from Los Angeles. They fill this further day off with a trip from their home in South Central to Beverly Hills and back. You might think this is a carefree trip in search of fun, but these kids have no idea what will happen to them next. Time unfolds just like that - thoughtlessly. Photographer Larry Clark has made it his mission to make films about kids and their relationship to them. These are films that play in the world of these kids. A world in which we adults do not exist. The world in Wassup Rockers is full of Latinos and blacks; full of squatters and policemen. Clark's kids have their roots in Salvador, but are routinely mistaken for Mexicans. They all come from the poor neighborhood where the mothers have jobs like striptease dancers. Clark's kids aren't armed or dangerous. His topic is a different one: What happens to teenagers when they come into contact with sex and drugs, even though they are still half children? They're not looking for trouble, just fun. But that in turn will provoke anger and violence. Jonathan (Jonathan Velasquez) is the leader. Everyone looks up to him. Right at the beginning he introduces his clique (and starts every sentence with "and then"). His friends have names like Spermball (Milton Velasquez). They play in a band, hang out, tell "stories" like that of the child who tried to drown himself in the sink. Somehow they make it to Beverly Hills despite a police control in their car (without a driver's license), because there is a skateboard competition there. They also meet rich girls. One even invites them home. Of course they come. Larry Clark, by the way, observes very closely that there is no tension between the rich kids and the poor Latinos. They talk to each other about their differences. Nevertheless, the police are looking for the Latinos and they have to run. Home is by train, on foot and by bus. One of the friends will be shot, the others are tired and frightened. And the streets at home in South Central don't look too inviting to them. Black children are already lurking everywhere, watching them like enemies. But still: The Latino kids like each other, they are real friends. If you compare this fact with other cliques from Larry Clark's films about teenagers, Wassup Rockers is the least shocking.