The Florida Project

The Florida Project is a film about three assholes. The first one you won't see, but her legacy is evident in the behavior of the older of the two protagonists in the film. She also had a mother who passed on her values and lifestyle to her daughter through her (lack of) upbringing, because assholes are recyclable. I would like to discuss two opinions that are often heard about this film. It is not a story about people from the bottom of American society. The inhabitants of cheap motels around Las Vegas may be far from prosperity, but they can afford regular payments for a roof over their heads and they don't go hungry. The real bottom is formed by numerous homeless people, residents of decaying urban ghettos, and reservations. A shocking percentage of Americans suffer from malnutrition, cannot afford medication, and they lack basic services. The protagonists of the film will most likely continue to actively work on their descent and will get to know the bottom of American society in old age when they can no longer sell their bodies worn out by tobacco, alcohol, and hard drugs. Their lifestyle and attitude prevent them from establishing a functional family and relying on their partners and children. Secondly: Those girls really don't feel despair and hopelessness. They enjoy life like few others. They don't worry about the future and they can be creative in getting sources and they don't even have bad sleep from their escapades. It is their surroundings that suffer. Those who have to deal with the consequences of their actions. By the way, what others perceive as the arrival of doom is actually the only spark of hope in that endless mess. Anyone who can be carried away by the tears of a six-year-old girl and not realize that if anyone is a victim, it's only her mother, doesn't have any sense. Sean Baker deserves recognition for choosing the main characters and flawless work with non-actors. The most outstanding character in the film is the deeply human figure of the hotel manager, who knows his sheep well, never succumbs to naivety, but rather acts sensitively and tries to help within his means. Willem Dafoe pulled off one of the most convincing performances of his career in this film. Overall impression: 65%. (2020-08-04)

I was able to overlook the complete senselessness for a long time and focused on the actors. Specifically, on Brooklynn Prince, who delivers without exaggeration the best child acting performance I have ever seen. But after a while, the noisy children, noisy adults, noisy arguments, and shouted vulgarities became too much, and I quietly suffered through most of the second half. Moreover, we hardly leave the motel complex, and the viewer can sense that they will have to wait only for small joys and greater concerns. The salvation of the script is the character of Bobby, on whom, thanks to surprisingly civilian Willem Dafoe, it is visible that he wants to help his tenants, but he suspects that for some, it's just throwing pearls before swine. However, a significant drawback for me is the fact that most of the time I couldn't get rid of thoughts about what awaits Moonee in her later years and how she might end up with a similar environment and similar mother. Even a heart of gold can spoil, and despite efforts for positive moments, these thoughts made me feel miserable. Three stars solely for Brooklynn, who, with a bit of luck, could become a real treasure. (2018-01-16)

It didn’t sit well with me how the children told the story. It felt as if I packed a camera, flew to Florida, chose the motel closest to the airport in Orlando and sat there documenting what was happening around. I understand that was the intention of the movie but it simply wasn’t interesting to me. (2019-01-18)

The Florida Project is based on the conflict between children’s perspective and that of adults, between two completely different worlds existing in parallel. Baker employed this conflict as the guiding element of the film’s narrative. The permeation of “adult” problems into the guileless reality of childhood creates dramatic tension, advances the plot and rhythmises the narrative. The micro-stories of adults mostly lie at the edge of interest, which corresponds to the dominant children’s point of view. However, we are sufficiently familiar with the adults’ problems to comprehend the characters’ motivations and the plot twists. ___ The stylisation of the picture also corresponds to the children’s point of view. Realistic scenes, in which the camerawork mimics the low-placed children’s view of the world in an effort to keep pace with the young actors, are interspersed with carefully composed static shots that with their colours are reminiscent of pop art. Bold colours, signs such as “Magic Castle”, “Futureland” and “Seven Dwarfs Ln.” and unusual locations transform the devastated surroundings of the amusement park into one big playground, as it is also perceived and used by the children, who have created their own magical world, which is not sustainable in the long run, and the larger the cracks that appear in it, the less the adults are able to keep their kids under the illusion that everything is going to be okay. ___ The energetic style of the film contrasts with the hopelessness of the situation in which the young female protagonist is trapped with her mother. Due to the intrusions of social drama into the magical children’s adventure, however, the film manages to avoid sentimentality, falseness and romanticisation of the characters’ misery. After all, that is not what Baker intended the film’s central them to be. He is rather particularly interested in the ability to adapt to a certain environment and the related building of one’s own magic kingdom as a means of self-preservation. ___ Instead of creating artificial dramas, Baker allows events to flow seemingly freely. However, minor misunderstandings are wrapped up in other events, separate episodes are composed in a layered form, and the story, adhering to the traditional three-act structure despite the seeming dramaturgical laxity, speeds inexorably toward the cathartic climax. The great final drama derives from a number of smaller conflicts that the narrative at least touched on previously. ___ The Florida Project manages to point out problems that need to be solved without overstating them or sugar-coating them with the small joys of life, or misusing them for emotional blackmail. This is a pleasantly matter-of-fact, compassionate and sincere approach, captivatingly magical and realistic, which, in addition to sorrow, also offers joy and arouses the desire to start doing something. 90% (2018-03-28)

This film has incredibly accurate acting performances, where not only Willem Dafoe shows how great an actor he is, but especially the actors you don't know and can't know. The child actors are excellent, but the film is dominated by Bria Vinaite, who is incredibly accurate, disgusting, and to some extent pitiable. A well-chosen cast that was well directed. (2018-02-04)