Harmony Korine is one of the most influential directors of the American independent film panorama. Since his career’s inception, Korine adopted an experimental approach with the use of weird and improvised scenes: a cinema very close to video art.

His first experience was together with Larry Clark (the famous street photographer who introduced him to cinema), in fact, Harmony Korine previously wrote the screenplays for Kids. But these different artistic experiences such as art installation, photography, the production of music videos and fashion films got the young director to notoriety

But here’s a list of Korine’s movies.

Gummo (1997): I think is the most influential film of the last past twenty years from an aesthetic standpoint. This opera is a fine blend of a narrative and documentary movie. The director depicts the deviant and tarnished social side of an Ohio small city devastated by a hurricane during 1970’s.

Julien Donkey-Boy: this film is the story of a young schizophrenic guy interpreted by a great Ewen Bremner and Werner Herzog acting as the boy’s father (I must add that both the actor and director were early followers of Korine’s work).

Mister Lonely(2007): is the American director’s third film, who for the first time approached a new genre: the comedy. This Movie describes the absurd universe of the celebrities’ alter egos. The main character is, in fact, a young guy who earns a living by embodying Micheal Jackson.

Trash humpers (2009): is probably Korine’s most experimental movie. It shows a group of degenerate old people who roam the city committing antisocial actions. The film is missing of a real plot, and this fact makes the movie appear more similar to an artistic performance.

Spring Breakers (2012): is Harmony Korine’s latest film which is probably the most unfavorably reviewed, probably because it’s completely different from his previous movies. The director is here exploring new realms, he sketches out a sensorial film by depicting a wasted world and, as in the spring breaker, Korine uses images, music, visual effects and lights. This film also represents the director’s launch in the mainstream world. the movie is cast by stars such as James Franco, Selena Gomez, Gucci Mane and many others.

Now the independent director is shooting a new film called The Beach Bum. It’s a comedy of a drug addict interpreted by Matthew McConaughey. While we are awaiting this upcoming movie, I suggest you, as usual, to view Korine’s past movies.