Try (2000) User Reviews

A disturbing short

[doug1984 · 7/10 · 2 February 2003]

Jonas Åkerlund's short film Try (2000) is a graphic depiction of the lives of a homeless couple addicted to heroin. Åkerlund gives us a gritty vision of life on the drug that, in my opinion, is as disturbing as Requiem for a Dream (2000) and all other depictions of heroin use I have seen.

Despite having seen scores of graphic films there are moments in Try that I find difficult to watch. Throughout, it seems as if Åkerlund is being excessively graphic, not to enhance the narrative, but instead merely for shock value. I would not say the film changed my outlook on heroine or added to my knowledge of it. Still, how much character development can you expect in a 15 minute short?

Overall, Try is pretty well done. The ending gives me chills every time I watch it but the story itself is nothing spectacular. It can be found on The Smashing Pumpkins DVD: 1991 - 2000 Greatest Hits Video Collection.

Engaging, but depressing

[gravity_eyelids · 8/10 · 29 January 2003]

I found it a bit disturbing, but I thought it was really good. Basically it explores the dreams of a young homeless woman and her views on life and the world around her. To say the least, it was thought-provoking. I was especially drawn to one sequence near the end that juxtaposes various images of modern materialistic culture and the hidden ugliness hiding behind the glamor of typical suburban life. Overall, it presents a rather bleak message; however, it is definately worth at least one viewing.

WOW!! Chilling and powerful

[trfnnabat · 9/10 · 15 March 2005]

When Billy Corgan and Jonas Akerland first came up with the idea of making a music video based on kids on heavy drugs but very much in love, who would've thought that they would've come up with something as moving and powerful as "Try" has turned out to be. The whole thing is definitely very much inspired by the Darren Aronofsky film "Requiem for a dream" where other young kids destroy their lives focusing on tomorrow and not recognising today. Having the girls untruly young voice narrate over the top of it without any real dialogue made the whole experience even more powerful for me as it seems like a genuinely nice person has messed up and ended up living on the street with nothing more than her boyfriend and her dreams. But i seem to find the love story within this film to be part of it's power. these two people are all each other has in the world and they stand by and protect each other and share every burden together no matter what happens. Therein lies the beauty of the film for me. you can't help but feel sorry for these people even though it is evident that it's there own fault that they've fallen so low and why they aren't getting out but you still feel an affinity with them and the hard life they lead which they just seem to take on the chin. This again makes the impact of the final scenes all the more powerful for me

Wow, disturbing, yet powerful

[shadowolf2k · 10/10 · 16 April 2003]

I bought the Smashing Pumpkin's DVD 1991-2000 Greatest Hits Video Collection, and had found this short film in the "Extras" section.

This short film (which used segments for the Smashing Pumpkin's "Try, Try, Try" music video, from their last album, "Machina: The Machines of God")was overall quite disturbing, and yet, very powerful. Despite being short, much was accomplished in portraying the film's message. The images portrayed many of the physical darker images of the world in connection to the more psychological aspects, and there was much foreshadowing. I overall found these image very appropriate and contributed to the film's power. Despite the two characters fateless life of drugs, prostitution, stealing, and so on...you get quite an emotional feeling for the two, as they hang on to each others love to move through the torture they go through.

And even aside those disturbing images, the film ends in a very cold fashion that didn't use any harsh images at all.

Horrible and gut-wrenching

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 7 June 2008]

NOTE--THIS IS A VERY ADULT FILM. LETTING KIDS SEE THIS FILM IS PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA, THOUGH VIEWING IT WITH AND DISCUSSING THE FILM WITH TEENS MIGHT BE.

This film is about a couple drug addicts who live on the street. However, oddly, instead of a traditional film about homelessness and addiction, the female lead narrates in a bizarre style that is the exact opposite of what you see on film. For example, she talks on and on at the beginning of the film about how great her life is and how things are getting better--but in reality her life simply can't get much worse. Only later in the film does the narration become a bit more depressing, but by the incredibly gut-wrenching conclusion, it once again is happy and looking to a brighter tomorrow.

This is an incredibly depressing and horrible film to watch. I would imagine that many who do see it will probably find themselves crying or choking back tears, as the film makers did a fantastic job of telling the story. From purely a technical viewpoint as well as its ability to convey a story, this is a brilliant film.

However, be forewarned, it is a very, very tough film and one I don't recommend to kids. Perhaps, though, this WOULD be a great film to show addicts and especially casual users who think drugs can be purely recreational--I can't imagine a better and more sobering wake up call!

Final verdict--brilliant but horrible.

They tried and succeeded

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 25 January 2018]

"Try" is a 15-minute live action short film from 2000, so this one's also already almost 20 years old and it was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and he is also part of the writing team. Really many writers for such a brief movie. Anyway, if you know a bit about the Swedish filmmaker, then you will know that there is a music connection to this one as it is the long version with no music, but all story of the Smashing Pumpkins music video Try Try Try. Funnily enough, it includes one third of the title and runs 3 times as long. This is the story of a young homeless woman that starts off fairly light with her telling us about her boyfriend and her dreams, but the longer it goes the more serious it becomes and subjects like prostitution and death become significant. Around the 12-minute mark it takes a really extremely absurd turn too with what you see during the bright (yellow) color sequences. All in all, this is as sad as it is interesting and I enjoyed the watch. The narrator is perhaps the best aspect of the entire thing, but what you see is good too. All in all, I give this one a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out. It may be a Swedish production, but it is in English, so you won't need subs if you speak the language. If not, you should still watch it. That's all. See it.

Disturbing but awesome

[ediby · 10/10 · 6 November 2009]

This wasn't something I had been intentionally looking for. I was sent a link to the shot film by my girlfriend. As I first opened it up, seeing the quality of the description, I didn't expect much. How wrong I was...

The movie is about a drug addict couple, who live on the street and steal, and do drugs and pretty much all the other stuff that you would expect them to do. All the way trough move the girl is commenting and sharing her personal thoughts. As you go trough the film, you start seeing the great disconnection between her real life and what she is telling.

This movie grabbed me in the first minute of watching, kept pulling me deeper right up to the end and spat me out bursting with emotions. The part that intrigued me was the setup - I am interested by paths of life that differ form mine. What makes you watch it trough to the end is that you can't predict the ending. At the beginning it may seem that they will succeed in reaching the dreams that the girl is telling, but as you get further into the movie, you start realizing, that those dreams are most likely to remain just dreams. And the ending - it makes you feel so many different emotions. Sadness. Condemnation. Anger.

To conclude, this movie may disturb you, it may even make you cry, but most importantly it may make you think about life. This quote, I think, says a lot "It's funny really, how life works. The things you try to hold on to, you try to remember, those are what you end up loosing, and everything that you try to forget, those are thing that stay."

truly remarkable

[ekongoli · 9/10 · 14 January 2007]

I have seen many shock-factor films, and especially many drug movies. The incredible thing about Try is that in 15 minutes, it has achieved more then Requiem for a Dream has achieved in 1.5 hour (ok, maybe thats exaggerating a bit lol) The 15 minute short film directed by Jonas Akerlund is a very brief and powerful depiction of life on the street for a two teens in love. it is narrated by the girl who is pregnant. During the entire 15 minutes, the two are basically going around getting money, stealing food, meeting people, and most importantly doing drugs. The drug use in this movie is some of the most realistic I've ever seen. The heroin scene at the end is so gut wrenching that I was starting to feel faint throughout the hallucinations. Jonas is a very creative director and his style fits the short film very well. There are many quick shots, and we see the entire short film revolve around the subway. Please don't see this movie expecting something light hearted, you'll have to be ready for what you are about to see as it is very graphic, extremely realistic and dark. Jonas' depiction of drug use both in this short and in Spun always amazes me, this man knows his stuff.lol

egin

Maybe 1/3 brilliant

[moogyboy · 5/10 · 3 November 2009]

I just watched this gritty, grim little movie on YouTube, totally unaware of the Smashing Pumpkins connection. Not that it would have made much difference; it basically looks like a fairly slick indie short of the MiniDV school featuring a lot of edgy, fashionably grim urban imagery: a music video without the music.

Instead, we get the nameless heroin--er, heroine--going on and on and on and on and on in a faintly pretentious voice-over while she and her boyfriend try to survive the cruel streets of a nameless city in Sweden, drink, shoot up, and physically crumble to pieces before our eyes. The endless shots of this hapless couple wandering around--and repetitive cutaways to a passing train--could have been trimmed by about half and the movie would have been considerably tighter and more intense. I get the idea, already. Their life is dull and viciously locked in a death spiral like bloody water down a bathtub drain. I think Akerlund could've effectively depicted that torpor a little more concisely, without threatening to put us to sleep on the one hand, and making us wish that the girl would quit whining on the other.

What saves "Try" is its final four minutes: a wonderfully surreal and nightmarish depiction of a bad drug trip in lurid full color, and a wonderfully played version of the obligatory cautionary-tale ending, displaying more raw pathos than most of what preceded it. And unlike its obvious model, Barbet Schroeder's "More", this one offers a true sacrificial lamb. Not the drug-ruined girl, but her unborn baby. There's the real tragedy, and the reason this frustrating, often irritating short is ultimately worth sitting through.