Gregg Araki
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His Teenage Apocalypse film trilogy, consisting of Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995) and Nowhere (1997), has been heralded as a cult classic. His film Kaboom (2010) was the inaugural winner of the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.
Early life and educationEdit
Araki was born in Los Angeles on December 17, 1959, to Japanese American parents.<ref name="nqc">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="encyc">Template:Cite book</ref> He grew up in nearby Santa Barbara, California, and enrolled in college at the University of California, Santa Barbara.<ref name="images">Template:Cite book</ref> He graduated with a B.A. from UCSB in 1982.<ref name="encyc"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in 1985.<ref name="encyc"/><ref name="images"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CareerEdit
Low-budget beginningsEdit
Araki made his directorial debut in 1987 with Three Bewildered People in the Night. With a budget of only $5,000 and using a stationary camera, he told the story of a romance between a video artist, her sweetheart, and her gay friend.<ref name="images"/><ref name="bomb">Template:Cite journal</ref> Two years later, Araki followed up with The Long Weekend (O' Despair), another film with a $5,000 budget.<ref name="images"/><ref name="bomb"/> His third film, The Living End (1992), saw an increase to $25,000. Director Jon Jost lent him camera equipment and provided spare film stock.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He often had to shoot his early movies spontaneously and without proper permits.<ref name="encyc"/>
Despite the financial constraints, Araki's films received critical acclaim. He received awards from the Locarno International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, with an additional nomination for a Sundance Film Festival award.<ref name="encyc"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Teenage Apocalypse trilogyEdit
Araki's next three movies—Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and Nowhere (1997)—were collectively dubbed the Teenage Apocalypse trilogy.<ref name="images"/> The trio has been characterized as "... teen alienation, hazy sexuality and aggression."<ref name="thcat">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A former student of his at UC Santa Barbara, Andrea Sperling, co-produced the films with him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The trilogy saw Araki work increasingly with more notable actors and actresses including Rose McGowan, Margaret Cho, Parker Posey, Guillermo Díaz, Ryan Phillippe, Heather Graham, and Mena Suvari among others.
The trilogy received varying degrees of reviews, from a thumbs down and "zero stars" by Roger Ebert to "Literally the Best Thing Ever" by Rookie, and was eventually heralded as cult classics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Subsequent effortsEdit
Araki's following film, Splendor (1999), was both an homage to screwball comedies of the 1940s and 1950s and a response to the controversy surrounding his ongoing relationship (despite Araki self-identifying as gay) with actress Kathleen Robertson.<ref name="encyc"/><ref name="images"/> Hailed as the director's most optimistic film to date,Template:Citation needed it made its premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Araki's next project was the ill-fated MTV production This Is How the World Ends, originally planned with a budget of $1.5 million.<ref name="fifty">Template:Cite book</ref> He viewed it as a chance to reach the masses through MTV's viewership and signed on to do the project despite the budget being cut to $700,000.<ref name="encyc"/><ref name="fifty"/> Araki wrote, directed, and shot the pilot episode, but ultimately MTV decided against the project and the effort never aired.<ref name="encyc"/><ref name="fifty"/>
Following a short hiatus, Araki returned in 2004 with the critically acclaimed Mysterious Skin, based on the 1995 Scott Heim novel of the same name.<ref name="encyc"/> This marked Araki's first work with someone else's source material.<ref name="fifty"/><ref name="blf">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Araki's next feature was the stoner comedy Smiley Face (2007), featuring Anna Faris, Adam Brody, and John Krasinski, written by Dylan Haggerty. It marked a stark change from the dark, heavy drama of Mysterious Skin, a change purposely planned by Araki.<ref name="fifty"/><ref name="blf"/> It received very favorable reviews, with some describing it as another of Araki's potential cult classics.<ref name="fifty"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Kaboom marked Araki's tenth film and made its premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It was awarded the first ever Queer Palm for its contribution to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.<ref name="indie">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Araki followed that film with White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), which was given limited release to mixed reviews. Araki returned to television with the 2019 series Now Apocalypse, co-executive produced by Gregory Jacobs and Steven Soderbergh on Starz.
Araki's next film, the comedy/thriller I Want Your Sex, will star Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, and Charli XCX. The screenplay was written by Araki and Karley Sciortino.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It's expected to premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
StyleEdit
One notable feature of Araki's work is the frequent presence of shoegaze music. This was first seen in the soundtrack of Totally Fucked Up, and was also substantially featured in the films Nowhere and Mysterious Skin.<ref name="nqc"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Both The Living End and Nowhere owe their titles to this shoegaze influence: The Living End after The Jesus and Mary Chain song of the same name, and Nowhere after Ride's album Nowhere.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Awards and honorsEdit
In 2010, Kaboom was named the first-ever winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm.<ref name="indie"/> Araki has also been honored with the 2006 Filmmaker on the Edge Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2013, Araki was recognized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City with the retrospective God Help Me: Gregg Araki.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Araki has previously self-identified as "a gay Asian American".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> However, he had a relationship with actress Kathleen Robertson from 1997 to 1999.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In a 2014 interview, at which time he was in a relationship with a male partner, Araki said: "I don't really identify as anything", adding "I'd probably identify as gay at this point, but I have been with women."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
FilmographyEdit
FilmEdit
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Three Bewildered People in the Night | |
| 1989 | Template:Sortname | |
| 1992 | Template:Sortname | |
| 1993 | Totally F***ed Up | Part 1 of Teen Apocalypse trilogy |
| 1995 | Template:Sortname | Part 2 of Teen Apocalypse trilogy |
| 1997 | Nowhere | Part 3 of Teen Apocalypse trilogy |
| 1999 | Splendor | |
| 2004 | Mysterious Skin | |
| 2007 | Smiley Face | |
| 2010 | Kaboom | |
| 2014 | White Bird in a Blizzard | |
| TBA | I Want Your Sex | Post-production |
TelevisionEdit
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | This Is How the World Ends | Unaired pilot for MTV |
| 2016 | American Crime | Episode: "Season Two: Episode Three" |
| Greenleaf | Episode: "Men Like Trees Walking" | |
| Red Oaks | 2 episodes | |
| 2017–2018 | 13 Reasons Why | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Riverdale | Episode: "Chapter Twenty-Four: The Wrestler" |
| Heathers | 2 episodes | |
| 2019 | Now Apocalypse | Creator, director, writer, executive producer |
| 2022 | Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story | Episode: "Lionel" |
| American Gigolo | Episode: "Nothing Is the Real but the Girl" |
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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