Death Trip

[amanda]

Van Sant's new movie, Last Days, premieres at Cannes next Friday. Last Days is the last in a trilogy of spare, low-budget independent movies shot in contained settings that began with Gerry (2002) and continued with Elephant (2003).

film.guardian.co.uk/cannes2005/story/0,15927,1477228,00.html

[ryan]

I recall reading Roger Ebert's pre-reveiw of Last Days. He was writing about his initial reaction to the movie after having viewed it at Cannes or Sundance, I can't remember which festival. Apparently, the film is about the last days of a rockstar whose life has uncanny parallels to the life of Kurt Cobain. Ebert wrote that the film plays as a clinical study of a man who drifts out of life through a drug-addled fog.

Van Sant has declared that the movie is the final segment of his "Death Triology," which began with Gerry, continued with Elephant, and now concludes with Last Days. If you haven't seen either Gerry or Elephant, you should be able to find both films at Blockbuster now. I'd recommend both films, but not to all audiences. I think the people here at Disjunction would appreciate them. I admired the audacity of both films, as well as the restraint exercised, and Van Sant's refusal to moralize or to draw easy conclusions for the viewer.

For those who haven't seen it, Gerry is about two college-age friends who head off in their clump-of-junk car on a weekend hiking trip in the wilds of Arizona, or New Mexico, or some such similar place. They get lost, and wander for days. At first, they manage to keep their spirits up by talking about trivial matters, like dumb gameshow contestants and video games they've played. As the severity of their predicament settles in, and thirst and hunger begin to take their toll, the friends speak less and less. Probably the last hour of the film is devoid of dialogue. It's a study of how we react when we realize our lives are in jeopardy, and of the mental journey men take as they realize death is closing-in, and are graced (or cursed) with the time to acknowledge it, and to think about it. It's a terrific film, but not for the Saturday Matinee crowd.

Same goes for Elephant, which tackles some similar themes in the context of a Columbine-style school shooting. Elephant is a great film because of its refusal to assign blame, or to attempt a resolution. The film simply follows several different high-school students through one day, as they arrive at school, talk between classes, flirt with each other, get in fights, and talk about their plans. We also watch a couple of kids who seem to be ditching school to stay home and play videogames. We realize that the timeline involving the two truants isn't quite in-sync with the other scenes in the film. A package is delivered; it is an automatic assault rifle. We understand immediately where the rest of the film is headed, but what is fascinating is how Van Sant refuses to depict anyone as a villain. He simply sets his camera down, and allows us to bear witness to some very candid moments between some very real characters. The two kids who open-fire on their classmates are, in a sense, just as victimized as those on the other end of their rifles.

Because Van Sant is a smart and daring filmmaker who handles difficult material with the subtlety and respect it deserves, I look forward to seeing Last Days. If it plays in Tulsa, it will likely play at either the AMC (on 41st and Yale) or the Circle Cinema (at Lewis and Admiral).

The Circle Cinema lists showtimes for current and upcoming films on their website, www.circlecinema.com.