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Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973) is a US film director and writer. He first gained notice for his 1995 screenplay, Kids, directed by photographer Larry Clark. The film follows a group of New York teenagers coming of age in the era of AIDS. Kids garnered good reviews, but due to its NC-17 / unrated rating, few of its intended audience actually saw the film upon its release.Following the success of Kids, Korine directed and co-produced Gummo, a film based on life in Xenia, Ohio, after its destruction by a tornado. Forgoing conventional narrative, Gummo features unusual and disturbing images, such as bacon taped to a wall and deaf people arguing. Korine cast himself in a bit part as a shy gay teenager. His sometime girlfriend, actress Chloë Sevigny (who made her film debut in Kids), was perhaps the most well-known "star" in a cast of largely non-professional actors. While New York Times critic Janet Maslin declared Gummo "the worst film of the year," it earned Korine the respect of noted filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant and Werner Herzog.In 1998, Korine made "The Diary of Anne Frank part II," a 40-minute three-screen collage featuring a boy burying his dog, kids in satanic dress tearing apart and vomiting on a Bible, and a man in black and white minstrel make-up dancing and singing "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean."Korine released his next film, Julien Donkey-Boy, in 1999. Korine adhered to the Dogme 95 rules of filmmaking, which require filmmakers to eschew fancy camera tricks, lighting effects, and elaborate sets. The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's father is played by the German director Werner Herzog. At one point, Korine was to play the son, but he backed down and was replaced by Evan Neumann.Korine originally intended to follow up Gummo with a short-lived project known as Fight Harm. Described as a comedy, it comprised footage of Korine engaging random people in actual street fights. In filming these fights, Korine followed a loose set of rules: his opponent had to be larger and stronger than him, he had to provoke his opponent into throwing the first punch, and the fights could not be broken up unless Korine was in danger of losing his life. After filming seven fights and sustaining several injuries, Korine had produced only fifteen minutes of usable footage. He subsequently aborted the project.In 2002, Larry Clark made the film Ken Park, based on a script Korine had written several years earlier. The film, another adult tale of youth gone awry, was not distributed in the US and was banned in Australia. At the time of its release, Korine had long since severed his relationship with Clark and had no involvement in its production.He is the author of the lyrics of Björk's musical composition "Harm of Will" from her album Vespertine (2001).He is also the author of a book entitled A Crack Up at the Race Riots, a collection of blackly humorous notes, rumors and random words he invented, stole (part of an old interview with actor Johnny Depp, from Interview magazine, is included) and overheard.Through the years he has made various shorts (like "Jokes") and music videos (such as "Sunday" for Sonic Youth), and in 2003 he made the film "Above the Below" about his friend David Blaine and his 44-day stunt over the Tower Bridge in London inside a Plexiglas box. The movie also includes jokes, visual poetry, and music.His third feature film, Mister Lonely, is set to begin production in 2006, starring Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, Anita Pallenberg, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Werner Herzog. The film is co-written by his brother, Avi Korine.
