This Ain't California (2013)
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0
liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 136
Movie Info
In 90 minutes, we see the GDR more sharply, more clearly: the skater subculture shows that not all was grey-on-grey and drab clouds of Trabant fumes. This Wildfremd production (Ronald Vietz & Michael Schöbel) by director Martin Persiel takes original clips of the "wheel-board-riders" - straight out of the East German scene in the 80s - and mixes it with animations and reencounters with the protagonists today. It is not just a well thought out story on its own - this film also raises the
Apr 12, 2013 Limited
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All Critics (10) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (0)
"This Ain't California" offers a vivid immersion in the hidden skateboarding culture of the former East Germany.
Top CriticA trove of home videos, vintage commercial and propaganda footage and black-and-white animation dress up this energetic if somewhat unfocused look at the birth of skateboarding in the German Democratic Republic.
Combines vintage Super-8 footage, re-creations, cheeky asides (a lesson on how to do an ollie!) and middle-aged guys reminiscing ...
Martin Persiel's splendid "documentary" could well be subtitled "And It Ain't the Truth."
The documentary examines how the American hip-hop movement-exposed to those of the GDR ... and in particular skateboarding and beatboxing were seen as creative outlets for the oppressed youth of the nation that had succumbed to 'grey boredom'.
Even knowing the artifice, it's an excellent and extremely enjoyable film. Indeed, knowing the artifice, it's way more impressive ... However true it isn't, it's a lovely evocation of what might have been.
Prize-winning documentary paints an affecting tale of young GDR rebels on wheels, but is marred by a busy, self-conscious aesthetic approach.
A masterpiece of editing and re-creation resulting in one of the most enthralling stories of the year.
What the director is perhaps aiming for is a documentary of feeling rather than historical accuracy...the filmmaking is so accomplished that any potential notions of being hoodwinked can be forgiven.
While the film is deeply romantic and nostalgic, possessing a genuine reverence for youth and rebellion, it's also something of a tragedy.
Audience Reviews for This Ain't California
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Foreign Titles
- Esto no es California (ES)
