jaydin725 Not a mainstream film for sure, but if you liked other Harmony Korine films you would probably like it. It was filmed under the rules of Dogme 95 or something like that and so a hand-held camera was used the entire film. I didn't like that much, I would have rather it been filmed like a regular movie, it could have been so much more than it was if some of the monotonous sequences were cut out. At sometimes it is awfully slow moving, but despite that an interesting depiction is made. There is no particular meaning to the film, which I think is fine, but some prefer a plot line of some sort. The actor that played Julien was brilliant and there were actually some really comedic parts in the film. Of course there were darker parts, but they were brilliant as well.

stvengoranmatthews the main reason i decided to view Julien Donkey-Boy was because it was directed by Harmoney Corine, who had written the brilliant kids. I thought i new what to expect from Korine's directorial debut, but is was genuinely and happily surprised. The film is a difficult one to watch if one is used to this type of film-making: the Dogma-style of film-making. I wasn't used to it! But despite the film's grainy picture quality, allegorical allusions, etc. {all of which is initially pretentious and arty}, the basic storyline is one of simple beauty. Ewen Bremner's titular performance was a masterclass in method acting and he delivered a truly heartbreaking turn. Chloe Sevigny was also quietly amazing as Julien's heavily-pregnant sister Pearl. The film's most bizarre performance came from German filmmaker Werner Herzog as the domineering father; i didn't really understand a lot of his dialogue but maybe that was Korine's intention. Half way through the film i realised that i really cared about these characters and what was going to happen to them. As the film draws towards its climax and events take a turn towards the tragic, i was totally involved with these characters and the final image had a profound effect on me. Julien Donkey-Boy is a strangely beautiful film that i would like to watch again, so that i can fully appreciate its intensity and Korine's obvious passion for a different {revolutionary} form of contemporary film-making.

tonymurphylee As people see things, things see us. This extremely disturbing film about a man/boy with schizophrenia struggling through life with his twisted and mentally abusive dad, his sister who is pregnant with his baby, and his abused brother, is terrifyingly weird. With a film in which a boy is brutally smashed in the head with a stone and choked to death, a nun masturbates on the floor, and a armless man plays the drums, it is completely obvious that this film will only appeal to certain people. This film is freakish, but not in as good a way as GUMMO was. With all this being said, while the film was a hellish and emotional picture that is not for the mainstream(to say the least), I would never ever want to really see it again. This was just too much. It made me feel unclean in a way much deeper tan GUMMO. I felt my mind was permanently warped. I never want to even think about this film ever again. Thinking about it makes me feel nauseous. The images and the characters and the actions of them have gotten to me and Of course, this was probably Harmony Korine's intention. Many viewers won't feel the images they are seeing are necessary to for the to see. It is kind of a freak show in a way. It isn't so much the content that is bad. There are many events in the film that just feel wrong. Take for instance the scene where Julien attempts to sell skating shoes he made. He attempts to sell them to a boy who does not listen to what he has to say about his purportedly useless invention and instead swears and yells at him, telling him in exaggerated form that the shoes will kill people and that he wouldn't pay any money for them. The scene has no purpose other than to seemingly be insulting and depressing to the viewer who has already had their fair share of depressing events throughout the film. And yet it is done in such a way that is very lifelike and very realistic in terms of how the scene is constructed, but it seems so weird to want to film this sort of behavior. It has also been well known that for this film project, Harmony recorded real people's reactions of some of the strange behavior with hidden cameras. This adds genuine realism to the film along with the nasty stuff, as if it didn't have enough. It's a tough film to sit through. I think it's a good film, but I don't recommend it for fear that people will think I'm a sicko for thinking they will like it.

djkleanser Julien Donkey Boy is a profoundly heartening anomaly in American cinema. It lacks the ubiquitous gunshots, explosions, and requited love that are so hideously redundant in the vast cesspool of Hollywood-style movies. This movie represents a step FORWARD. This is a step towards DEPTH and towards quality. Among other reasons, this is why it is a FINE film.This movie is something of a pastiche. Many people simply do not or can not handle the fact that it is not 'plot-driven' or that Ms. Julia Roberts is nowhere to be found, forever grinning like a wax doll. (Haven't we seen enough of her teeth anyway?). That is fine. Perhaps the more patient of that group could stand to see this movie a second time.In the traditions of the finest ART, this movie presents more questions than it does answers. What will come of Julian? Is he in fact incestuously involved with his sister? What is up with the curiously fascistic relationship between the German father and his athletic son? The casting of Herr Herzog and Ms. Sevigny, however, with a score of Puccini, amounts to nothing less than an amazing aesthetic experience worthy of the audiences of Claude SAUTET or Pier Paolo PASOLINI. Bravo to Mr. KORINE. I hope that there is more work of this caliber coming down the pike. As a fervent snob (how could you tell?), I take pleasure in making exception for this extraordinary achievement. FIVE STARS! I would not recommend this movie to young children or Republicans. ENCORE! ENCORE TUTTI! Until the day I die, my brother and I will always be shouting, 'DON'T SHIVER, BE A WINNER!' Thank you, maestri Herzog e Korine.