Intentionally or not, Harmony Korine built his reputation on being the enfant terrible of American art-house cinema, the impish prankster whose art seemed to draw on charm rather than hardened professionalism. This put him in a different league to that other film-buff-turned-indies wunderkind, Quentin Tarantino. If the two had been children playing in the same sandbox, maybe there would have been a little animosity. Tarantino, who can be relied upon to deliver entertainment no matter what, would have been the popular leader of the gang, while Korine would have sat in a corner — enigmatic, self-sufficient and private.

Korine's been lambasted by many critics, but he has been able to rely on support from some hip, discerning adults (Larry Clark, who launched him to fame with "Kids," and Lars Von Trier, among others), which probably accounts for why Korine, now 35, remains an iconic darling of American independent cinema.

"Mister Lonely" is his first feature film in eight years. An intimate, personal work, it bears the stamp of Korine's own life without being blatantly autobiographical. He collaborated on the screenplay with his brother Avi, there's an appearance by Korine's recently-wed wife Rachael, and the brilliant cast includes a magic circle of friends (including renowned directors such as Werner Herzog and Leos Carax) that will have film-buff jaws dropping from Hollywood to Berlin. It's also a testimonial to Korine's still-plentiful reserve of skewed, slightly bizarre originality, and skill at transporting his mindscape to the screen. The opening scene shows a Michael Jackson lookalike trailing a toy monkey on a string as he goes round and round a miniature race course on a tiny motorcycle while the soundtrack plays Bobby Vinton crooning the title song. The repetition — more than four minutes of this — is mesmerizing but a little irritating; in many ways it's as self-indulgent and devoid of exertion as the protagonist Michael (Diego Luna of "Y tu mama tambien"). But then, this is a guy who makes his living off impersonating Michael Jackson so a little irritation is necessarily part of the package.