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All Movie Info
Directed By
David LaChapelle
Cast:
Tommy the Clown, Lil Tommy, Larry, Lil C, Dragon, Tight Eyez, Baby Tight Eyez, Miss Prissy, Swoop, El Nino, Daisy, Big X, La Nina, Quinesha
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Rize (2005)
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Movie Review by Corey 
June 24th, 2005
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Throughout the annals of human history, social unrest has led to violent civil eruption and action. The flip side of that bloody coin is that this unrest can also create important artistic movements; the necessary outlets that will forever serve as artifacts and reminders of the anger that bore their fruit. It is this last phenomenon that is the subject of noted American photographer and music video auteur David LaChappelle's first feature-length film, the captivating documentary RIZE.
It has been more than ten years (can you believe it?) since the Rodney King beating, trial and resulting riots took place in South Central Los Angeles, rocking and shocking this country to its core. RIZE takes you back to that area today and focuses on it in a way that Hollywood and the national news media subsequently have not. LaChappelle chooses to concentrate on something positive - a flowering dance movement that has permeated throughout the youth of those troubled neighborhoods. Soon after the riots, an ex-con added hip-hop sensibility to clowning and child entertainment. As his antics became highly popular, putting a small smile and band-aid in a zone that sorely needed it, a personae - Tommy The Clown - and business were born. The act attracted several local youth who wanted to work and dance with Tommy. Soon after, other groups formed and a school of dancing - Clowning - was born. Like many artistic movements, mutations branch out - Krumping - that compete with the original. Krumping seeks less to entertain and instead to offer its followers an avenue for their own frustrations and anger. Thus, the movements are faster, more violent and expressive. These two factions have grown large enough that they can take over a major indoor arena to stage an epic 8 MILE style duel - one of the more compelling elements of the film - to crown an annual champion.
Should it be a surprise that a kind of dancing that requires face-painting take root in such a depressed area? Perhaps not. One montage cross-cuts footage of African tribal dances with the modern dancers, effortlessly set to tribal music, that proves an interesting ancestral link to the dress and song of both. In an area where gangs - symbolized by their own colors and dress - rule, it speaks volumes that these positive, artistic groups can offer a respected alternative.
LaChappelle's strengths as an music-video director and photographer are evident and ample throughout the movie. He uses few effects (a warning at the beginning of the film announces that nothing in the movie was sped up), prefering for his pictures to do the talking. This strength, by turns, can also be the film's weakness. There are instances where LaChappelle seems content to show off those visuals as opposed to providing a stronger, better organized narrative thread. I also couldn't help thinking that the movie's most vibrant visuals - sweaty, fit bodies doing their thing in front of an intense blue-hued sky - sometimes reminded me of a Sprite commercial.
Nonetheless, RIZE is an excellent summer cinematic escape. You'll bounce your head to the music, be stunned at the talent of these young dancers and be exposed to a new view of an area of this country you may often forget about. More importantly, it proves that the need to express one's societal frustration in art knows no bounds.
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