This is California
By Caitlin Summerson // 28th February 2019
Nostalgia. Melancholy. Zeitgeist. Jonah Hill’s directorial debut ‘Mid90’s’ will awaken your soul to memories of a simpler time. Like the sweet smell of freshly brewed coffee early in the morning, first a gentle nudge, and then a redolent overwhelming jolt to the senses.
‘Mid90’s’ takes us through a portal back to Los Angeles mid 1990’s, where we find thirteen-year-old Stevie, a teenager growing up on the west coast. He spends his summer navigating between his tumultuous home life and a new group of friends whom he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop. Stevie is slowly welcomed into the cult of skateboarding, gradually developing deep friendships with its long-standing leaders Fuckshit and Ray. No, Fuckshit is not his given name, apparently that doesn’t fly even in LA.
This film is a cathartic experience from beginning to end, exploring the disorientating teenage experience you may have just forgotten. The transition from blissfully ignorant childhood to merciless adult existence is set to a dreamy soundtrack made up partly of an original score, alongside evocative 90’s classic recordings from The Pixies, Morrissey, Nirvana as well as some good old quintessential hip-hop.
It is reminiscent of ‘This Aint California’, a fellow coming-of-age film from 2012, and an unmistakable source of inspiration for Hill. Similarly following a group of teenagers and their passionate love for skating, however, as the title so kindly states, this ain’t California, it’s the German Democratic republic in the 70’s and 80’s, so their issues are not only personal, but national, but most poignantly, un-apologetically human.
Both films are quests for freedom, from suppression, from harsh realities, from shitty families, and you’re rooting for all of them. You can almost feel the wind flowing through your own hair while watching the skating mob cruise down a wide west coast road, away from life’s brutal punches and into the arms of a warm sunset.
A directorial debut triumph for Hill, it is a true tale of friendship, belonging, dedication and lust for life. This film will transport you to a time you didn’t realise you missed, make you want to call old friends more and maybe even dust off that old skateboard.
