What the hell happened to Gus Van Sant? As far as I’m concerned he’s been caught in a creative tailspin since 95’s To Die For (itself a flawed enterprise), nevermind the hare-brained waste of celluloid that was Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.
Last year’s Gerry plays out as a paean to tedium virtually unmatched thus far in the cinema of the new millennium. Sure the cinematography’s gorgeous. But when the desolate sepia-tinged landscapes of the Utah desert serve as more palpable characters than the two twenty-something cardboard cut-outs played by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck the red flag necessarily gets raised (taking into account that such banality is Van Sant’s intention). With a script that probably filled no more than two college-ruled pages the film goes down like one of those Canadian Aero™ chocolate bars- a vaguely tantalizing taste shot through with lots of vacant air.
This year’s Elephant is an even more egregious exercise in self-indulgent sophistry. ‘Experimental’ in its use of improvised dialogue and a cast comprised largely of the teenaged population it seeks to portray; the damn thing comes off as alternately overwrought and undercooked. Painfully protracted long shots combine with nebulous & stilted dialogue. A ham-fisted gay subtext vies with caricatured species of students including a trio of bulimic fashion-obsessed girls straight out of Fox’s OC. One of the few engaging aspects arises through a tweaking of time and perspective. Scenes are repeated from various characters’ vantages. But even this stratagem is squandered on a ‘plot’ that’s as pointless as it is plodding.
Van Sant’s earlier work- Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho (in spite of Keanu Reeves bumbling performance) especially- stands as some of my favorite cinema of the 90s. So my indignation seems justified. I want to know where his head is at & if there’s a cure in sight. Did the shot-for-shot remake of Psycho permanently shunt the flow of his creative juices?
FWIW, while I loved "Drugstore Cowboy" (and even bought the soundtrack CD), I never cared for "My Private Idaho." Seemed pretentious and overblown to me. So, I'm not so surprised at the mediocrity of Van Sant's more recent work.
BWTHDIK?
Posted by: walto at January 23, 2004 5:27 AMIDAHO definitely has major flaws- Keanu & the faulty Shakespearean subtext chief among them. What I remember liking about it though is the dream-like elements, the randomness of the River Phoenix character’s narcolepsy, the various landscapes canopied with drifting clouds, etc. I think I was twenty when I first saw it in a theater & that imagery stuck with me. Oddly enough, Carl Sagan's COSMOS had a similar effect on me.
Walt, what’d you think of TO DIE FOR?
I thought Kidman was good, but I can't really remember much else about "To Die For." I do remember suffering through "Cowgirls." Should have gotten the Oscar for thumb makeup, I thought.
Posted by: walto at January 23, 2004 7:01 AMAnyone seen 'Mala Noche'?
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at January 23, 2004 7:17 AMThose were some huge thumbs alright. Never was a Tom Robbins fan. The guy tried too hard to be weird IMO & ended up coming off bombastic & gimmicky in the bargain.
I was a little disappointed by MALA NOCHE, probably because I had such high expectations after reading about it. Still, it’s a damn sight better than most of Van Sant’s work. The choice of b&w is great in capturing the naked seediness of the surroundings/characters. And it’s interesting how similar themes have played out in disparate films like LOVE & DEATH ON LONG ISLAND and OUR LADY OF ASSASSINS.
I read Another Roadside Attraction in my sophomore year of high school (found it in a box of old books belonging to my mom, the hippie). Tried Cowgirls and hated it, though, so that was it for me and Robbins. Agreed that he tries way too hard. (I had this problem with A Confederacy Of Dunces, too, by the way; anybody else react negatively to that book? It seems universally loved, at least among folks I've talked to.)
Posted by: Phil Freeman at January 23, 2004 8:32 AMno STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER? I enjoyed that one quite a bit.
Posted by: al at January 23, 2004 8:34 AMI thought "A Confederacy Of Dunces" was pretty funny. But I agree that its cult is a little overboard.
Posted by: walto at January 23, 2004 9:20 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................