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Title: a beautiful meditation on the inevitable ugliness of poverty
Review: I first saw Gummo on the big screen and subsequent video viewings do not leave me more clear about the movie's meaning or message. I think (thank God) it's not meant to have much of a "message" in the first place. Harmony is an incredible fly on the wall in some pretty desolate, chaotic places, sending you images that mystify, horrify, amuse and move. He feels little need to explain himself which is why I think this movie got such mixed reviews. You're left to decipher and absorb Gummo's haunting images without a Hollywood instruction book. The movie weaves it's way into your subconscious, resurfacing days, months, years afterward.
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