Showing @ Cineworld, Edinburgh, Thu 19 & Sun 22 Jun
Gia Coppola / USA / 2013 / 100 mins
Palo Alto is not so much a story of teens losing their innocence as denying and devaluing it. Adapted from James Franco’s collection of short stories, it raises vital questions about the difficult process of coming of age in a world where children are rushing towards adulthood and the adults have never grown up.
Gia Coppola’s adaptation focuses on a quartet of privileged Californian teenagers: nihilistic Fred (Nat Wolff), solitary and promiscuous Emily (Zoe Levin), baby-faced delinquent Teddy (Jack Kilmer) – whose self destructive impulses regularly sabotage his innate decency – and introspective April (Emma Roberts) who is torn between her seemingly unrequited feelings for Teddy and the more mature attractions of her coach (Franco).
The question which underlies all the hedonism and alienation is: how do you speak up for yourself when you haven’t yet found your voice? These kids work hard to maintain a facade of sophistication, but their choices are almost exclusively a passive reaction to the world around them. Palo Alto looks like a nostalgic fantasy of adolescence where the golden flare of the California sun hides the darkness beneath. Perhaps it is the power of this very mirage that most of the adult characters are unable to resist, and which means the children are left to navigate their path by themselves.