grady
07-23-2005, 08:02 PM
So the new Gus Van Sant film is out here in the states. It's loosely influenced by the last days of a certain rocker who took his life in the early 90's. Van Sant has followed the cinematic experiment he started first with Gerry and then with Elephant. Last Days continues this experiment deviating further from the Elephant while still maintaining the visual and asethetic approach. The film is filled with incredibly long takes, some of them static for extended durations of time as we watch Blake, played by Michael Pitt, stumble through a large estate and it's surrounding forest mumbling incoherent words, barely audible.
Much has been written about the film already since it's debut this may at Cannes and I imagine more will be written about it in the coming weeks via pieces discussing the comparisons of Van Sant's Blake and Kurt Cobain.
All that aside, if the film does come around to your area, and you were not put off by the experience of either Gerry or Elephant, you should see this film.
Much like the two other films that Van Sant made in the same style, Last Days does not offer any explanation or reason while Blake takes his life. Instead the audience is presented with pieces of this persons life and chooses to watch and take away from those pieces what they will.
It's audacious of Van Sant to continue this stylistic way of storytelling that is very close to cinema verite. Seeing the film with a half filled audience you could visually see people getting frustrated and moving around in their seats as if their patience was being tested by a shot of two people sleep in bed and Blake outside their window in the upper right corner of the frame digging a hole.
Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed by the film, but I understand what is trying to be achieved. I liked both Gerry and Elephant a great deal more upon my intial viewings. Perhaps a subsequent viewing or two will change my perception of Last Days. As I've been reading various critics and journalist chime in on the film, this seems to be the emerging trend. Those who saw the film at Cannes and didn't care for it too much have come to alter their opinions with subsequent viewings. Most likely I will see the again later this week and see how it fares upon the second viewing.
Trying to wrap this all up. Here are two links to check out for more info and reactions on the film.
link 1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/movies/22days.html?ex=1153540800&en=31c80a4b70657267&ei=5083&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes)
link 2 (http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2005/07/kurts_eclipse_i.php)
trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/last_days/)
Much has been written about the film already since it's debut this may at Cannes and I imagine more will be written about it in the coming weeks via pieces discussing the comparisons of Van Sant's Blake and Kurt Cobain.
All that aside, if the film does come around to your area, and you were not put off by the experience of either Gerry or Elephant, you should see this film.
Much like the two other films that Van Sant made in the same style, Last Days does not offer any explanation or reason while Blake takes his life. Instead the audience is presented with pieces of this persons life and chooses to watch and take away from those pieces what they will.
It's audacious of Van Sant to continue this stylistic way of storytelling that is very close to cinema verite. Seeing the film with a half filled audience you could visually see people getting frustrated and moving around in their seats as if their patience was being tested by a shot of two people sleep in bed and Blake outside their window in the upper right corner of the frame digging a hole.
Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed by the film, but I understand what is trying to be achieved. I liked both Gerry and Elephant a great deal more upon my intial viewings. Perhaps a subsequent viewing or two will change my perception of Last Days. As I've been reading various critics and journalist chime in on the film, this seems to be the emerging trend. Those who saw the film at Cannes and didn't care for it too much have come to alter their opinions with subsequent viewings. Most likely I will see the again later this week and see how it fares upon the second viewing.
Trying to wrap this all up. Here are two links to check out for more info and reactions on the film.
link 1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/movies/22days.html?ex=1153540800&en=31c80a4b70657267&ei=5083&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes)
link 2 (http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2005/07/kurts_eclipse_i.php)
trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/last_days/)