Billed as "A Heterosexual Movie by Gregg Araki", The Doom Generation is the second installment in the director's trilogy known as the Teenage Apocalypse film trilogy, preceded by Totally Fucked Up (1993) and followed by Nowhere (1997). The characters of Amy Blue and Jordan White are based on the Mark Beyer comic strip "Amy and Jordan".
Araki's major film debut, shooting primarily took place at night during January 1994 in Los Angeles on a budget of $800,000. The crew avoided well known landmarks and shot in undeveloped areas of urban sprawl to give an apocalyptic feel. The budget allowed Araki to hire professional crew, making it the first of his films not shot by himself.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 1995.[3] It received mixed reviews from critics. During the press screening, many critics left. However, at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), it received critical acclaim, most proclaiming it as Araki's breakthrough. Distributed by Trimark Pictures, it was released in the United States on October 27, 1995. While not a financial success, earning only $284,785 at the box office, McGowan was nominated for Best Debut Performance at the 11th Independent Spirit Awards.
Plot
Teenage lovers Jordan White and Amy Blue pick up a handsome drifter named Xavier Red while driving home from a club. Jordan gives Xavier the nickname "X". A late-night stop at a convenience store leaves the three on the run when X accidentally kills the store's owner, forcing the trio to hide in a motel to avoid arrest. Jordan and Amy have sex in the bathtub, while X watches from an outside window. X then learns from the local television news program that the store owner's wife disemboweled her children with a machete before committing suicide. This leads X to believe that the trio won't be considered suspects or be found by police.
Later that evening, Amy has sex with X, despite their mutual dislike of each other. Eventually Jordan finds out, and things become tense as the two men develop a lingering sexual attraction for one another. As the trio journeys around the city of Los Angeles, they continue to get into violent (almost comedic; every item the trio buys always comes out to $6.66) situations due to people either claiming to be Amy's previous lovers or mistaking her for such. These incidents get the attention of the FBI, and their goal is to find Amy and kill her (exactly the same sentiment is voiced by several other parties in the film). She is mistakenly identified by a fast food window clerk as "Sunshine" and later by a character played by Parker Posey as "Kitten".
Jordan, Amy and X spend the night in an abandoned warehouse, where they engage in a threesome. While Amy goes to urinate, Jordan and X are attacked by a trio of neo-Nazis, one of whom had previously mistaken Amy for his ex-girlfriend "Bambi". The gang first severely beats up X, then holds Jordan down as the aforementioned neo-Nazi ties up and rapes Amy on top of an American flag. The group finally cuts off Jordan's penis with pruning shears and forces the severed penis into his mouth. After Amy breaks free, she kills the neo-Nazis with the shears and escapes with X, leaving Jordan for dead. The film ends with Amy and X driving in her car. X offers Amy a Dorito, to no reply. Aimless on an empty road, the credits roll.
The film was initially acquired by The Samuel Goldwyn Company, but was dropped due to content objections, before being picked up by Trimark Pictures. Its home video release had many cuts and differed greatly from the original version seen at Sundance.[4] In March 2012, the UK company Second Sight Films released a DVD with anamorphic widescreen and director/cast commentary.[5] Previous releases up until this point lacked the commentary, with many lacking the widescreen format.
Director's cut
Duval and Araki answering audience questions after an April 2023 screening of The Doom Generation restoration at the New Mission Theater, San Francisco
The first cut as shown at Sundance featured several scenes removed from future releases. It was shown at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, restored in 4K with 5.1 surround sound, with the restoration supervised by Araki.[6] This version will be released in cinemas around the US, starting April 6, 2023, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of Newfest's series "Queering the Canon: Totally Radical".[7]
According to Araki, the new 4K restoration of The Doom Generation is the only one that he wants audiences to watch from here on out: "I hope that this new version of it wipes those old copies out entirely, because they're so inferior. There was an R-rated cut of Doom Generation that was made without my approval, and it's terrible. It's literally been butchered beyond recognition, and I'd prefer that people don't watch it at all than watch that copy of it."[3]
This version of the film will be released on Blu-ray from Strand Releasing on September 26, 2023.
Reception
The Doom Generation received mixed reviews, with critics often comparing the film both favorably and unfavorably to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, gives the film a score of 55% based on 40 reviews.[8]
Giving the film its very first review, in Variety, Emanuel Levy noted: "Stylishly yet personally expressive, 'The Doom Generation' marks an innovative turning point in Araki's career."[9]Roger Ebert famously rated the film "zero stars" and objected to what he perceived as its cynicism, ironic detachment, and depictions of blase violence, writing: "Note carefully that I do not object to the content of his movie, but to the attitude. ... Araki may not have been thinking of Leopold and Loeb when he made his movie, but I was when I watched it."[10] Ricky da Conceição of Sound on Sight named the film the best of Araki's "Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy" and said it "represented a major artistic leap forward" for Araki, who "creates a twisted pastiche of science fiction, nihilistic road movie and teen angst filtered with dead pan comedy and his own unique commentary on the depravity of modern America." He praised the set design, lighting, score and actress Rose McGowan, who "steals the show as the foul mouthed, morally aimless femme fatale on crystal meth and Diet Coke."[11]
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