Aggro Dr1ft – A Masterclass in Trolling

After premiering in Venice, TIFF, and NYFF, Harmony Korine’s Aggro Dr1ft became the huge topic of discussion among the festival critics, with varying degrees of likability. After making rounds in cities across North America, it is finally being made available to purchase digitally here. In his latest feature, Korine presents a film entirely shot in infrared whose story follows Bo (Mollà), an assassin trying to hunt down a demonic crime lord.

Korine’s comments about him not really trying to make a film made it apparent that he is one of few filmmakers who are being extremely truthful and glaringly dishonest at the same time. Taking inspiration from video games and music videos, he uses these inspirations to strip the “idea” of a film down to its bones. Bo’s few conversations with his poorly enunciating employers and a cringy Travis Scott meant that audiences can finally see those great Grand Theft Auto cutaway scenes on the big screen. The film’s casual and sluggishly disjointed fight scenes greatly reinforce this comparison, for better or worse.

Aggro Dr1ft sees Korine uses the free-moving camera technique to capture the bulk of its montage shots of people dancing, hitmen posing, and mercenaries letting loose with their firearms. Coupling these typical music video clichés with Bo’s monotone, repetitive narration rounds out a potential satire on Terrence Malick’s style of filmmaking. Korine makes it abundantly clear that Bo’s narration is performed ironically as he repeats many of the same contradictory phrases throughout, including his comments about being humble when he constantly brags about being the world’s greatest assassin. Additionally, audiences hear his comments about needing to slay the demon, followed by shots of a demon shadowing his movements in the background of the Miami coastline, as if Bo represents a powerful demon himself. As a whole, it is evident that Korine lacked a proper script and just appeared to have merely made stuff up on the spot.

The infrared cinematography, as much of a tiring gimmick as it can be for some, must not be overlooked as a nice party trick. Korine uses thermal imaging, boosted with some VFX and AI, to create powerful imagery to convey much of the meaning that’s absent from the dialogue. Korine uses the dynamic EDM (electronic dance music) tracks provided by composer AraabMuzik in creating a cohesive score that syncs and adapts exceptionally with the rapid change in color patterns. The enhancements to the thermal imaging give room for Korine to play with background colors to represent feelings and vibes among the characters in a particular moment, with the music changing accordingly.

The flashes of red represent Bo’s focus and determination towards his job, which are accompanied by sporadic spamming of music notes as if listening to an echo of a high pitch piano. Meanwhile, shots of solid blue represent his contemplation and sadness coupled with somber tracks similar to a muffled harp. These colors, among others, often combine in certain scenes with many of their distinct beats blending together fluidly in each scene. Additionally, Korine would add certain visual effects in post-production to elevate the colorful images on screen. For example, robotic parts and wires would be added through the bodies of multiple mercenaries in a way that is reminiscent of the Terminator franchises, in that men like Bo were only born to kill.

While Korine’s experiment will surely not be gaining overwhelming reception on one side or another, his urgency in creating something different based on boredom and burnout has sparked a heated dialog among critics and audiences alike. He utilizes an untapped filmmaking technique to convey a mashup of a video game inspired crime drama with a Malick-inspired music video satire. The fun part about discussing the film and what it represents comes from the fact that none of it could truly mean anything depending on whether one believes Korine is completely trolling or not. Ultimately, Aggro Dr1ft is an experiment that everyone needs to experience as in the end, what is the point of making a film if not to start a discussion?

still courtesy of TIFF

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Costa Christoulas

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