Totally F***ed Up (1993) User Reviews

Totally Not That Fouled Up

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 14 February 2006]

This is the first film from Gregg Araki, the man who made "Doom Generation" and "Nowhere". Like those films, the theme is the end of the world and features a backdrop of industrial music (Ministry, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, 16 Volt, etc.). The only difference is the lack of budget and big name actors (no Rose McGowan or John Ritter). We follow the lives of a group of gay and lesbian teenagers over the course of roughly two weeks. We see their struggles against oppression, their personal lives. An AOL user would summarize this films as "Buttsecks? O RLY? Ya RLY." but that's just ignoring the overall themes to focus on the more distasteful aspects of the film. If you're ans Araki fan or want a new experience, check this film out. It's not nearly as weird as his other films (no aliens or talking decapitated heads), but it will warp your perception of the world. And the end, while very abrupt, leaves something of a lasting effect.

A LGBTQ Classic

[akoaytao1234 · 7/10 · 30 October 2022]

My fourth Araki. Another of his 90s End-of-the-World series. Again, here James Duval is front center with his group of rag-tag not-your-average LGBTQ misfits akin to John Hughes clique. Unlike the strawberry tinged life of those 80s cliques, this kids have to face isolation, sexual identification and familial rejection where being out is still also being out there.

I love how film's tackle this LGBTQ teenager's problems. Especially, the character's talking about being thrown out or cheating and such, which given the time it was made, handled with care and compassion. It was after all, the 90s. AIDS death was still on the uptick. Its nice to see how they have each other's back even with some of stuff.

Stylistically, it is very lofi, no budget vibes. You could feel the indie-ness of the film. Its rough and almost scratchy which makes me remember those Waters and Warhol films. And with the additional talking heads, made it have that documentary feel.

Overall, this was a very interesting watch. A great time capsule of a troubling time. When out is also being out there alone with other alike. Excited to watch Nowhere soon.

this was a totally f***king unappreciated film

[trooper128 · 20 April 2000]

It's obvious that the other person who did a review of this movie was not an Araki fan. In order to understand this movie, you have to be a hardcore Gregg Araki aficionado. This was one of his first films, and he was just beginning to develop his unique style of directing and writing. The language used is supposed to emphasize the immaturity of our generation even though we are in such serious situations as shown in the movie. It's actually a great juxtaposition. As for the cinematography, I would rather see a movie filmed in the way Totally F***ked Up was than any other uninterestingly-filmed movies. At it's core, this is really a story about the struggles of anyone who has ever felt like an outcast. It does leave us hanging at the end, but so do other Araki movies. That's just his style; and if you don't like it, then too bad for you. If you do happen to like this film or are interested, I urge you to see the rest of the Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy [next: The Doom Generation, Nowhere], and all other Araki films. They are all interesting and stylish.

araki's most sincere effort

[buyjesus · 8/10 · 22 November 2001]

with obvious allusions to vivre sa vie (the film is divided into 14 seemingly randomly segregate segments), gregg araki takes a journey into the lives of a group of gay teens in LA (not ALL gay teens, just a group). Well, maybe journey is the wrong word for it. Those familiar with Araki's other works are aware that they are loud, colorful, bombastic, and over-exentuated. They are also very MOBILE, in that a lot happens in the stories (usually someone gets killed, they run from johnny law, etc.). Totally F**ked up is not a mobile film. It doesn't go anywhere. Araki seems to proscribe in this film to the philosophy ( a Rossellini/ Godard staple) that life is less about actions or even interactions than boredom and other people's stories. James Duval plays a teen who broods in self-antipathy, spouting off despeate (and often pathetic) catch phrases like "life is sh**." or "love does not exist." But the underlying notion is that he really has lost faith and all hope, and as much as it ills him to become a statistic he keeps creeping that way, unable to find an outlet to truly express his real dismays.

Araki's trademark self-coined slang and gother-than-thou art references are still in tact as we view this period of life that is less transitional emotionally than just a shift of behaviors- as we all act like babies. maybe it's just making up excuses - a character being lured into cheating because of a bootleg nine inch nails video- or maybe it's just talking in goofy language and popping pills in abandonned garages to watch each other fall over.

as for the film's "crappy" look, I could either chock it up to lack of funds or intentional grainy filming. After all, every single one of his films are laced with characters using intentionally awful dialogue and intentionally bad acting to disguise its actual intentions. it makes since that he could do this visually too. And with the interspersed interviews with steven's video camera- it could easily be construed as the actual camera eye of the group, a 7th member if you will. either way, it didn't distract me.

People who enjoyed Araki's other films because of the pretty colors and big loud noises need not apply themselves to this film, because it does take patience. but the result is a rewarding experience.

It's just a load of boring conversation between boring characters in a boring setting

[mateosuperkick · 1/10 · 22 November 2020]

Literally nothing stands out. Not one character is interesting. Not one life experience is interesting (as a non binary pansexual I've heard and seen this story fleshed out in real life). This was six gay people having a really simple life and thinking they where important enough to record it. If there's some big metaphor I'm missing it's because it's hard to even care to pay attention. An absolutely dreadful experience that felt like it lasted eight hours.

The Seeds of Gregg Araki's Genius

[gradyharp · 8/10 · 18 November 2005]

Tracing the progress of innovative filmmakers is a pleasure for movie buffs. Gregg Araki developed a unique voice in film in the early 1990s (this film dates back to 1993), a voice that maintained a sense of immediacy with his actors who he directed with his hand held camera in a manner that gave the illusion that the 'script' was extemporaneous. Careful not to assign controversial roles to inadequate talent, Araki gathered a group of young actors and pulled the very best from them. Many of these early actors still maintain presence in Araki's prolific flow of films.

As is so often the case with Araki's stories, TOTALLY F***ED UP deals with gay sensibilities in a way that displays the entire spectrum of positive and negative response to his characters. He does not preach: he simply voyeuristically reveals lifestyles as though he were a hidden personage who just happened to fall into private moments and turbulent emotions. In this film Araki divides the examination of six teenage gay kids (four boys and two girls) into 15 dialogues, each representing an aspect of what faces his characters and how they cope with being on the fringe. The 15 episodes are related because the characters remain the same and it is this unique manner of making his story that has continued to be a trait of Araki's later, more linear films.

We meet each of the six characters in an interview situation, with only the minimal amount dialogue conveying the maximum amount of information. The primary character is Andy (a superlative James Duval) whose view of life is bleak to say the least: Andy doesn't believe in love, in commitment, believes he is bisexual even though he has never stepped out of his same-sex playing out, grows to depend on his friends, falls in love with a sweet talking fellow Ian (Alan Boyce) only to discover Ian is not at all monogamous, and finally feels the pain of heartbreak and makes a decision about life that ends the film. The other characters include Michele (Susan Behshid) and Patricia (Jenee Gill) who are lesbian lovers and stable figures for the boys, desiring to have children and a wholesome life without the need for male penetration!; Steven (Gilbert Luna) and Deric (Lance May) who are coupled but come apart when Steven has an affair and Deric is gay-bashed; and Tommy (Roko Belic), the one who falls in love too easily with every one night stand he has.

The episodes deal with the characters' sexual attitudes, AIDS, life on the streets, drugs, parental alienation, loneliness, abuse, suicide, and the desperate need for extended family. With Araki's technique we come to care strongly for each of these disparate kids: by the end of the film they feel like close personal friends of ours.

The filming technique is choppy and slips out of focus and seems to idle like a malfunctioning engine at times, but in Araki's sensitive hands these aspects add to the tension of the story. Clearly Gregg Araki is a gifted artist, and his films subsequent to this successful one serve to prove his growth and increased power of heart to heart communication. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

Absolute totally boring self-important rubbish

[Glamwog · 1/10 · 16 October 1999]

How interesting - gay teenagers sit around and talk about themselves and their pathetic lives. Then one of them kills himself. That's it, the entire story. Shame on you for wanting to *enjoy* watching a film. Oh, but it's got a groovy soundtrack!! (And no, I am not heterosexual.)

what a strange movie

[PharmacyJohn · 8/10 · 9 August 2001]

A rare movie to find. If you find it, you are one of the few.

I think that this is a good movie for sexually confused teenagers to watch. I think that some kids can connect with it and know that they are not the only ones out there who have the same situations occur in their life as in this movie. Some good issues are brought up in this movie. Some real stereotypes are stepped on in this movie. This movie lets kids know that it's okay to be something other than hetero.

Before Doom and Nowhere

[sol- · 4/10 · 11 July 2016]

Opening with a newspaper article on gay teen suicide, the tone of this early career Gregg Araki movie is set from early on as the film presents "15 random celluloid fragments" relating to the hardships of being young and homosexual in a predominantly heterosexual world. Araki's perpetual muse James Duval is solid as the closest the film has to a protagonist and some of the ideas that crop up (AIDS as a form of genocide) are decent, however, the film does not just consist of fragments, but is in fact completely fragmented as it jumps randomly between characters. None of this would be a problem if the characters were well fleshed out, but we barely get to know them outside of what they say in interviews. The supporting performances also vary from poor to adequate and the fact that all concerned mumble their lines is a poor aesthetic choice on Araki's behalf. 'Totally F***ed Up' is often cited as the first film in Araki's 'Teen Apocalypse Trilogy' alongside the vastly superior 'The Doom Generation' and 'Nowhere'. What makes both those films so remarkable is the way Araki weaves in fantastic and pseudo-scientific elements to symbolise the strangeness that the characters feel grappling with their sexuality. Both 'The Doom Generation' and 'Nowhere' are laced with semi-surreal comedic touches too. By comparison, 'Totally F***ed Up' is far more straightforward and serious-minded a tale. Evidently, this approach has appeal to some given the positive reputation that the film has built up over time, but suffice it so say, one's mileage will vary.

EASILY ONE OF THE BEST GAY MOVIES EVER MADE

[thescourge · 10/10 · 28 May 2003]

I saw this film in 1995 at the ICA in London, and it blew me away - and it still does today. Mostly because it treates the characters as genuine real PEOPLE,

and without stereotypes. Even in today's age of "will and grace" crap, it still holds up as ten times more genuine.

A lot of people complain that nothing much happens - but that's what these

characters are destined to do- nothing much. They're problem is that they can't find a place to hang out, to fit in, to find others like them. They are nihilistic outcasts, and because they're gay in 1993, they're even more outcast - but

partially by themselves. This film shows this better than any film I've seen since...

-ken

Totally uninvolving.

[Infofreak · 20 July 2001]

I've been watching Gregg Araki's movies out of chronological order and I think this has really adversely affected the way I'm seeing them. Being a big fan of the surreal, campy, pop art-y 'Doom Generation' and 'Nowhere' has meant that I've found his earlier more realistic movies difficult to enjoy.

'The Living End' is one of his more conventional movies but at least it attempted some character development and a story-line. Unfortunately, 'Totally F***ed Up' doesn't have enough of either. It has plenty of anger sure, but it's semi-documentary look at disenfranchised gay teens fails to hold the interest throughout. It has a few good moments, but overall I had to fight to keep involved.

The one really good thing about it is that it introduces the charismatic James Duval, who Araki would utilise better in his following two movies. Too bad his subsequent career has mainly seen him relegated to bit parts in (the no brainer) 'Independence Day' and (the admittedly enjoyable) 'Go'. He deserves better.

So, if you didn't find much to enjoy in 'Totally F***ed Up' don't let it turn you off Araki completely. He far surpasses this in 'Doom Generation' and especially his most accomplished movie to date 'Nowhere' - a true 90s classic that deserves a larger audience!

I thought "Totally F***ed Up" was a good movie. I enjoyed it!

[zepherdog · 8/10 · 21 August 2005]

I thought the movie, "Totally F***ed UP," was a rather good movie. The movie attempts to look at the lives of some troubled gay teens and how they attempt to deal with the complexity and pressures of homosexuality in advent of the approaching new millennium. The interviewing style of the movie was a different approach to viewing a teen movies compared to the main stream movies formulas, but I found the movie entertaining in spite of the narration, and at times, it was very funny. If you ever really been around the teens of today, they do act and talk like these teens. All teens have problems trying to adjust and assimilate into adult life. Having the added pressure of being gay, makes their lives even more complex. I could identify with some of the characters and some of their actions and reactions and their problems trying to become independent, gay adults. I first saw this movie on the Independent Film Channel of cable and eventually I bought my own DVD copy, but I'd like to see more movies like this and more from the writer and director, Gregg Araki. Who knows, eventually these movies will be in main stream too and not just presented only on the Independent Film Network.

equal parts upsetting and brilliant

[telmoalves-91479 · 8/10 · 21 December 2017]

An extremly underappreciated Araki movie, beautifully shot, compelling, and thought-provoking. Definitely one of my favorite indie movies to date. A must-watch for anyone interested in the coming of age genre.

cheezy, but interesting, view of indie queer teen angst

[zyllah · 27 April 1999]

This film was great...I thought it showed the disenchanted at a level that was easy to identify with, especially for young queers. low budget movies always seem a bit cheezy but it brings them down to a level which is easily understood by the general populace. (sounds patronising I know, but it's a fact). It showed a bit of light in a lost world and is easily my favorite Araki film. The characters were great, the cinematography, while sometimes a bit hard on the eye, was interesting for me as a young film maker...it was also easy for me to identify with, although I'm in a totally different cultural climate and country from where this was filmed, growing attached to these characters was easy for me because I've been there and felt that, no matter how cheezy it is to say. I wonder one day if I can make a film as good as this...I want to give a bit of hope back to my generation and generations to come of young queers and let them know that there are others out there who feel the same way, give them a little hope in this dark.

Offbeat, low-budget indie drama, & well worth it for those open to the style

[I_Ailurophile · 8/10 · 9 February 2023]

Even from the opening moments one can readily discern how wonderfully low-budget this is. The DIY ethos is reflected in the writing, direction, and cinematography - all handled by filmmaker Gregg Araki himself as he also wears hats as editor and co-producer - as well as the design of the title cards, credit sequences, any intertitles, and other inserted material. Moreover, the picture immediately comes across as some off-center intersection of queer art film, pure indie drama, and modern (for the 1990s) realist portraiture as these 78 minutes loosely trace the comings and goings, lives, thoughts, and experiences of several LGBTQ youths. For those unprepared to engage with such fare it would be easy to say that the writing feels meager, and the film-making haphazard and amateurish, but I think that's unfair. This title is far outside the norm of cinema for any era or film industry, but it carries recognizable sensibilities; it's atypical, but not sloppy or accidental. There are kernels throughout of meaningful social commentary, and glimpses at contemporary youth culture generally and gay culture specifically - all of which still remains relevant thirty years later, for both better and worse. The storytelling is hardly ever more than piecemeal, but quite suitable for the approach Araki is taking; the dialogue and characters are broadly unremarkable, but natural, and so too is the acting.

Low-fi and low-key as the movie mostly is, I think it's duly enjoyable, and well done. I appreciate the earnest work that all put in, including Araki's direction, cinematography, and editing. No matter what it is to greet our senses at any point, the conglomeration is executed well - however superficially far-flung, random, or meek it may seem. The runtime is peppered with welcome light humor to complement other facets such as those more serious moments and notions that are broached (the state of the world; rightwing violence and genocidal rhetoric; homophobia), the lighter character drama, the wider lackadaisical tone, and the more curious inclusions. Scenes of characters making out are, oddly, often more genuinely warm and sensual than even some movies that are emphatically renowned for the same. (One example: I love 'Blue is the warmest colour,' but some of its sex scenes are laughably bad.) The result is a feature that comes off as an honest if largely amorphous and askew snapshot of six people, a time, a place, a culture. I absolutely understand how this won't appeal to all viewers, or carry sufficient substance or value for all. Yet the purpose is true, and the technique and effort, and strange as it feels from the outset, I think it really does bear that desired, necessary substance and value.

Except perhaps for utmost fans of Araki or those involved, or devotees of underground culture or cinema, this might not be a total must-see. But it's smartly made, and demonstrative of the range of the filmmaker's skills - how very different this 1993 title is from 1997's wild hodgepodge 'Nowhere,' or the sober drama of 2014's 'White bird in a blizzard.' It's sincerely entertaining and very worthwhile for what it says, does, and is, something that not even all major studio-backed fare can claim, and everyone on hand did fine work to bring it to life, the actors not least. Ranging from oblique and funny, to dark and dire, and back again, it's a picture that's less than ordinary in every regard. However, while content warnings should be noted for drug use and suicide in addition to other matters noted above, but anyone receptive to what it has to offer are sure to find this thoughtful, satisfying, and maybe even rewarding, even at its most unusual. It needn't be a top priority, but if you have the opportunity to watch, these 78 minutes are well worth one's time.

Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy

[atlantis2006 · 5 November 2010]

Gregg Araki is a well known director for his controversial take on youth and homosexuality. There seems to be, however, a certain thematic present in most of his movies. "Totally F***ed Up", along with "The Doom Generation" and "Nowhere", is part of what one might denominate the James Duval Era or as the director has named it: "Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy". In these movies, the actor interprets different versions of the same character: a confused young man exploring his sexuality and trying to find his place in the world. It may sound predictable, but when one is in front of a Gregg Araki's production nothing is predictable.

It would be unfair to claim that James Duval's character is the protagonist, certainly "Totally F***ed Up" is planned and executed as a polyphonic and multivalent narrative, and from the very beginning it showcases a cast of young people sharing their voices and thoughts with the spectator. They're all main characters, and that's part of the film's charm. Polyphony, as literary critic Bakhtin would explain it, implies a diversity of point of views and voices, there is not a unique vision but multiple visions. This goes beyond a simple angle change or a reinterpretation of an act from another character's perspective. Bakhtin said that no human voice could exist in itself, that in order for one human voice to exist other voices (dozens or thousands, the amount doesn't alter the equation) would be indispensable. According to his conception, truth is not what most people agree on, but rather a set of affirmations subtly linked with one another, even if sometimes they would appear to harbor contradictions or inconsistencies.

It is in this sense that "Totally F***ed Up" is a polyphonic story. It entangles and exploits the lives of gay and lesbian teenagers. It merges conflict, sexuality and teen angst in one solid narrative. At moments it may rely too much on experimental approaches, but it catches the attention of the viewer from the first image. And it's that first image that functions as the prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi in Greek tragedies. However a prediction of something that will only happen in the last minutes is only fitting in an scenario in which sometimes the characters act like chorus members in a classic Greek tragedy. The chorus was essential for Greek tragedy because it allowed spectators to become emotionally involved while at the same time remain intellectually separated and removed from the theatric reenactment. The chorus is the one voice, pronounced by many, that tells the spectator when to shed a tear or when to sigh in relief, it accompanies the cathartic process but gives full power to the spectator, allowing him to disconnect himself at any time.

These young homosexuals live in constant frustration. Whether it is the impossibility of the lesbian couple to raise a child together, or the impending cheating that shatters the gay couple, or the father's prejudice that ends up in the expulsion of his own son, or the inability of young Andy (James Duval) to define what it is he wants. Because, after all, Andy is not only struggling against his own insecurities and fears, he is also fighting against the structures, against what Lacan would call "reality"; it's perfectly understandable, then, that the ugliness of the Lacanian "real" should erupt in Andy's life. Classic Psychoanalytic theory used to say that homosexuality was the symbolic death of the individual, that due to the wrongfulness of their sexuality, homosexuals were dead in the eyes of society, and forever condemned to be outcasts. "Totally F***ed Up" is full of moments in which the spectator can contrast these kids experiences against the ideas and acts of other people, from the Southern politician that compares a gay pride to a march to hell, to the ads that insist AIDS is divine punishment, to the murderer of a gay man that says it's better to have one dead guy than one living gay, to the group of gay bashers that attack one of the main characters, etc.

It's all there, the chorus stratagem that reunites a Bakhtinian polyphonic truth and the frustration that comes from this traditional psychoanalytical accusation of symbolic death, that at last proves that one single man, one individual's fierce fight against reality, is not enough and can be sadly condemned to the grimmest fate.

Pure Garbage

[neion · 23 July 2001]

I've seen all of Gregg Araki's Films except the ones before "The Living End" and I thought all of them were fantastic. But not this one, it is a peice of garbage. First of all, this film gives no incite whatsoever on what it is like to be a gay teen. It never delves deep into the characters to show how they feel, and in the end we are left wondering what the hell happened. Ok so I saw the film about two years ago, so I can't comment fresh after seeing it. I have never been so aware of a film being shot on film as I was with this one. Araki uses WAY too many close-ups (which work for his other films) but in this one all there seems to be is CLOSE-UPS, CLOSE-UPS, CLOSE-UPS! It drove me insane. This probably would have worked if ANY of the characters were interesting in the slightest, but instead we are treated to LONG close-up pseudo documentary like shots of boring dialogue delivered by boring actors. I am so angry that I spent 100 dollars to import two copies of this for me and my friend, who is also a big Araki fan and couldn't even finish watching this piece of crap. Final Verdict, you will most likely not enjoy this film even if you are a big Araki fan. watch his other movies instead (except for Splendor ech!)

lives up to its title

[Milkweed · 6 February 1999]

This is one of the all-around worst movies I've ever seen. It says nothing you haven't heard before, it says it in a contrived, obviously scripted, cheesy "teen-talk" format (ie extensive use of words such as "grossorama" and "whatever" said in the most scripted way possible), the acting is awful, the cinematography is completely flat and uninteresting, and even though the movie is only 79 minutes long it drags more than anything I've ever seen. It felt like over an hour had gone by but when I checked my watch I realized I had only gotten ten minutes into the film! This may be more because of the terrible narrative structure than the bad acting and production values, but hey, those obviously aren't going to help much. I can't think of one reason for anyone to see this and I beg you not to do so, or your perceptions of the depths of badness that a movie can reach will be as "totally fu***ed up" as this movie is.