''Marfa Girl'' is a 2012

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Larry Clark Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film ''Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses prim ...

, and released on his website. The film follows a group of youngsters living in the

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...

town of

Marfa Marfa may refer to: Music * Marfa (instrument), an African percussion instrument * Marfa (music), celebratory music of the Hyderabadi Muslims Places * Márfa, a village in Baranya county, Hungary * Marfa, Chad * Marfa, Texas, a city in the hi ...

. It won the Marcus Aurelius Award for Best Film at the 2012

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...

. A sequel, ''

Marfa Girl 2 ''Marfa Girl 2'' is a 2018 drama film written and directed by Larry Clark. A sequel to his 2012 film ''Marfa Girl'', the film follows the characters of that film, set in the West Texas town of Marfa. The film has been noted for Clark‘s obsession ...

'', was released in 2018.

Plot

The film follows Adam, a directionless 16-year-old living in the working class town of

Marfa, Texas Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, Texas, Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Cens ...

, and his sexual relationships with his teenage girlfriend, twenty-something neighbor, an aggressive local artist, and his pregnant high school teacher, while an unhinged, misogynistic border patrol agent watches over the neighborhood. What ensues is a web of sex, drugs, and violence as the Latino skater punks adjust to their gritty, aimless life in the dead end town.

Cast

* Adam Mediano as Adam * Drake Burnette as Marfa Girl * Jeremy St. James as Tom * Mary Farley as Mary * Mercedes Maxwell as Inez * Indigo Rael as Donna * Jessie Tejada as Jessie * Richard Covurrubias as Chachi * Erik Quintana as Erik * Lindsay Jones as Miss Jones * Ulysses Lopez as Ulysses * Jimmy Gonzales as Oscar * Elizabeth Castro as Angie * Nathan Stevens as Ty * Rodrigo Lloreda as Rodrigo

Production

''Marfa Girl'' was shot exclusively in

, a small town in

Presidio County, Texas Presidio County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,131. Its county seat is Marfa. The county was created in 1850 and later organized in 1875. Presidio County (K-5 in Texas topological ind ...

. The town had previously been used as the filming location for the critically acclaimed 1956 film ''

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

'', which was the last movie to star

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

. Clark cast a mix of professional and non-professional actors for the roles in ''Marfa Girl''.

Release

''Marfa Girl'' premiered at the 2012 Rome Film Festival where it won top honors. On November 20, 2012, ''Marfa Girl'' was released on Larry Clark's website priced at $5.99 for one-day streaming access. There are no plans to release the film in theaters or on DVD. Clark has said that this online-only distribution was a way of bypassing "crooked Hollywood distributors". Past films by Clark, such as ''

Ken Park ''Ken Park'' is a 2002 erotic drama which revolves around the abusive and dysfunctional lives of several teenagers, set in the city of Visalia, California. It was written by Harmony Korine, who based it on Larry Clark's journals and stories. Th ...

'', have had difficulty in distribution because of their subject matter. On May 19, 2014, Spotlight Pictures announced that it had secured worldwide rights to distribute the film on all platforms; subsequently streaming access to the film was removed from Larry Clark's website. On October 14, 2014, Breaking Glass Pictures announced they acquired North American distribution rights from Spotlight Pictures. Breaking Glass Pictures released Marfa Girl theatrically and on VOD on April 3, 2015. The DVD was released June 23, 2015.

Critical reception

Despite winning the award for best film at the Rome Film Festival, the major critical attention directed at ''Marfa Girl'' has generally been more lukewarm in its enthusiasm. Boyd van Hoeij of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' praised the cinematography while directing criticism at the acting of some cast members and the generally shallow plot, mentioning that "the sex and nudity are as plentiful as the plot and teen characters are thin."

Jordan Mintzer Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Riv ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' praised some aspects of the dialogue and cinematography, but said that the cinematography was "nothing new" and looked at times as if "it was ripped out of a Levi's ad."

References

External links

* {{Larry Clark 2012 films 2010s English-language films Films directed by Larry Clark 2010s erotic drama films American erotic drama films Marfa, Texas 2012 drama films 2010s American films