Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant, 2008)

Much in keeping with the other simplified, minimalist films that Gus Van Sant’s artistic bender has brought out (Gerry, Elephant, Last Days), Paranoid Park is cloaked in beautiful images, slow motion shots, sparse dialogue and with hardly a plot to be found. This one revolves around a skater park, known by its users as “Paranoid Park,” and a death (a possible murder) that takes place on the train tracks nearby. The story unfolds in fragments, parts of the whole story being transcribed into a notepad by our almost expressionless protagonist Alex (non-actor Gabe Nevins that Van Sant found for the part). He walks around almost entirely in a funk, the type of attitude one has when he needs to get something off his chest and can’t find someone to confide in. The film itself even plays like a murky haze, with moments of piercing sounds and conversations stripped of dialogue. Who is responsible and the ramifications of the situation aren’t what matters, what matters is telling the story, getting it out there.