Beautiful Losers -- Alix Bloom

           The film, Beautiful Losers, focuses on a group of artists and filmmakers collaborative group and their rise to success. The two artists that I was most interested in were Mike Mills and Harmony Korine, the two filmmakers of the group. They interested me because Mike Mills incorporates his own art in his films and Harmony Korine just makes films with images that he wants to see, not really what the audience wants to see.

           Harmony Korine is famous for his risqué films and directing, he says "I knew there was a poetry in cinema that I had never seen before that was so powerful." which inspired him to write unsettling stories and direct abnormal scenes. His most recent and popular film is "Spring Breakers", and in my opinion his worst film. Korine's first film was KIDS, he was 19 when he wrote this film and with that, he created other films such as Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, Mister Lonely and Spring Breakers. His images are shocking and typically controversial, but has been able to win awards at the Venice Film Festival and earned the respect for noted filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant, among others.

           On the other hand, Mike Mills is famous for his truthful story telling and beautiful artwork that he incorporates in his films. His first feature film Thumbsucker , got great reviews and led him on the path to make more feature films, such as Beginners. This is a quote from Mike on writing Beginners, "…in a lot of ways this film actually feels a bit like a historical document, because it follows my own journey through that landscape of change."Beginners, his best film so far, has a fantastic cast that got Christopher Plummer an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. In this film, Mike uses a lot of his own art work and images from his life, creating a very visual understanding of what he's trying to convey.

           These two artists may be different in their styles of directing but they still tell interesting and truthful stories. Harmony approaches his films in a more risk-taking way, where Mike focuses on the characters and their struggles within the film. Coming from the same artistic community, they were able to reach success, through film and art.