Conversations with Gus Van Sant

Mario Falsetto

One of the most talented and imaginative artists of independent cinema, Gus Van Sant established himself with a number of important movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Beginning with Mala Noche, the 1986 gay classic of personal film expression, followed by two key works of the American indie movement, Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, Van Sant films often feature characters on the borders of mainstream society. Subsequent films included hits, misses, and a notorious remake of Psycho. Regardless of the critical or commercial response to his work, Van Sant has maintained a vision that is unique among contemporary filmmakers.

Conversations with Gus Van Sant is the first critical study to include both extensive original interviews with the director as well as discussions of his entire body of work. The exchanges between film scholar Mario Falsetto and the indie filmmaker cover fifteen films directed by Van Sant over a period of thirty years. Throughout these discussions, Van Sant talks candidly about each film’s production history, visual style, editing patterns, and creative soundwork. The director also expounds on his work with actors, the relationship of independent filmmakers to the wider film industry, and many other subjects related to his filmmaking process. The conversations examine the rich thematic explorations of Van Sant’s films, which often revolve around the search for love and community on the margins of society and feature a fascination with death.

From experimental films such as Gerry, Last Days, Elephant, and Paranoid Park—where Van Sant rebooted his understanding of cinema and his relationship to the Hollywood film industry—to Milk and Promised Land, this book explores the rich network of meanings in the director’s work. By melding the author’s critical perspective with the filmmaker’s own ideas, Conversations with Gus Van Sant creates a wider perspective on one of the most iconoclastic and imaginative directors of the last thirty years.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 204 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4422-4766-6 • Paperback • March 2015 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-1-4422-4767-3 • eBook • March 2015 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

Subjects: Performing Arts / Individual Director, Performing Arts / Film / Direction & Production

Conversations with Gus Van Sant

Paperback

eBook

Summary

One of the most talented and imaginative artists of independent cinema, Gus Van Sant established himself with a number of important movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Beginning with Mala Noche, the 1986 gay classic of personal film expression, followed by two key works of the American indie movement, Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, Van Sant films often feature characters on the borders of mainstream society. Subsequent films included hits, misses, and a notorious remake of Psycho. Regardless of the critical or commercial response to his work, Van Sant has maintained a vision that is unique among contemporary filmmakers.

Conversations with Gus Van Sant is the first critical study to include both extensive original interviews with the director as well as discussions of his entire body of work. The exchanges between film scholar Mario Falsetto and the indie filmmaker cover fifteen films directed by Van Sant over a period of thirty years. Throughout these discussions, Van Sant talks candidly about each film’s production history, visual style, editing patterns, and creative soundwork. The director also expounds on his work with actors, the relationship of independent filmmakers to the wider film industry, and many other subjects related to his filmmaking process. The conversations examine the rich thematic explorations of Van Sant’s films, which often revolve around the search for love and community on the margins of society and feature a fascination with death.

From experimental films such as Gerry, Last Days, Elephant, and Paranoid Park—where Van Sant rebooted his understanding of cinema and his relationship to the Hollywood film industry—to Milk and Promised Land, this book explores the rich network of meanings in the director’s work. By melding the author’s critical perspective with the filmmaker’s own ideas, Conversations with Gus Van Sant creates a wider perspective on one of the most iconoclastic and imaginative directors of the last thirty years.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 204 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-1-4422-4766-6 • Paperback • March 2015 • $59.00 • (£45.00)

978-1-4422-4767-3 • eBook • March 2015 • $56.00 • (£43.00)

Subjects: Performing Arts / Individual Director, Performing Arts / Film / Direction & Production

Author

Mario Falsetto is professor emeritus in film studies at Concordia University (Montreal). He is the author of Perspectives on Stanley Kubrick (1996) and Stanley Kubrick: A Narrative and Stylistic Analysis, 2^nd edition (2001) and has produced two collections of original interviews with film directors, Dialogues with Independent Filmmakers (2008) and Personal Visions: Conversations with Contemporary Film Directors (2000). Falsetto is also the editor of Anthony Minghella: Interviews (2013).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Chapter One: Hustlers, Addicts and Shakespeare in Portland
The Films: The Portland Trilogy: Mala Noche, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho
Conversations 1

Chapter Two: Misfires, Mainstream Success, and an Art Experiment
The Films: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, To Die For, Good Will Hunting, Psycho,
Finding Forrester
Conversations 2

Chapter Three: Death, and Aesthetic Experimentation, Part 1
The Films: Gerry, Elephant
Conversations 3

Chapter Four: Death, and Aesthetic Experimentation, Part 2
The Films: Last Days, Paranoid Park
Conversations 4

Chapter Five: Queer Politics, an “Issue” Film, Death (Again), and the Wrap-Up
The Films: Milk, Restless, Promised Land
Conversations 5

Filmography
Index
About the Author

Conversations with Gus Van Sant

Mario Falsetto

Conversations with Gus Van Sant

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