Coordinates | 29°57′53″N90°4′14″N |
---|
name | Gus Van Sant |
---|
birth name | Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. |
---|
birth date | July 24, 1952 |
---|
birth place | Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
---|
occupation | Film director |
---|
years active | 1982 - present
}} |
---|
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Achievement in Directing for his 1997 film ''Good Will Hunting'' and his 2008 film ''Milk'', and won the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for his film ''Elephant''. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
His early career was devoted to directing television commercials in the Pacific Northwest. In his films, he has dealt with themes concerning homosexuality and other marginalized subcultures.
His filmography as writer and director includes an adaptation of Tom Robbins' novel ''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'', which features a diverse cast (Keanu Reeves, Roseanne Barr, Uma Thurman, and k.d. lang, with cameos by William S. Burroughs and Heather Graham, among others); and ''My Own Private Idaho'', also starring Reeves as well as River Phoenix.
He wrote the screenplays for most of his early movies, and wrote one novel, ''Pink''. A book of his photography has also been published, called ''108 Portraits''.
Early life
Van Sant was born in
Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Betty (
née Seay) and Gus Green Van Sant, Sr, a clothing manufacturer and traveling salesman who rapidly worked his way up the corporate ladder into middle class prosperity. As a result of his father's job, the family moved continually during Van Sant's childhood. Van Sant is an alumnus of
Darien High School in Connecticut and
The Catlin Gabel School in
Portland, Oregon. One constant in the director's early years was his interest in
painting and
Super-8 filmmaking; while still in school he began making semi-autobiographical shorts costing between 30 and 50 dollars. Van Sant's artistic leanings took him to the
Rhode Island School of Design in 1970, where his classmates included
David Byrne and other members of
Talking Heads. It was also at RISD that Van Sant received an introduction to
avant-garde directors like
Stan Brakhage,
Jonas Mekas, and
Andy Warhol; this introduction quickly inspired him to change his major from painting to
cinema.
Early career (1978–1989)
After spending time in Europe, Van Sant went to
Los Angeles in 1976. He secured a job as a production assistant to writer/director
Ken Shapiro, with whom he developed a few ideas, none of which came to fruition. In 1981, Van Sant made ''Alice in Hollywood'', a film about a naïve young actress who goes to Hollywood and abandons her ideals. It was never released. During this period, Van Sant began to spend time observing the denizens of the more down-and-out sections of
Hollywood Boulevard. He became fascinated by the existence of this marginalized section of L.A.'s population, especially in context with the more ordinary, prosperous world that surrounded them. Van Sant would repeatedly focus his work on those existing on society's fringes, beginning with his 1985 film ''
Mala Noche''.
''Mala Noche'' was made two years after Van Sant went to New York to work in an advertising agency. He saved $20,000 during his tenure there, enabling him to finance the majority of his tale of doomed love between a gay liquor store clerk and a Mexican immigrant. The film, which was taken from Portland street writer Walt Curtis' semi-autobiographical novella, featured some of the director's hallmarks, notably an unfulfilled romanticism, a dry sense of the absurd, and the refusal to treat homosexuality as something deserving of judgment. Unlike many gay filmmakers, Van Sant—who had long been openly gay—declined to use same-sex relationships as fodder for overtly political statements, although such relationships would frequently appear in his films.
Shot in black-and-white, ''Mala Noche'' earned its director almost overnight acclaim on the festival circuit, with the ''Los Angeles Times'' naming it the year's Best Independent Film. The film's success attracted Hollywood interest, and Van Sant was briefly courted by Universal; the courtship ended after Van Sant pitched a series of project ideas (including what would later become ''Drugstore Cowboy'' and ''My Own Private Idaho'') that the studio declined to take interest in.
Van Sant moved back to Portland, Oregon, where he set up house and began giving life to the ideas rejected by Universal. With the assistance of independent production company ''Avenue'', the director made ''Drugstore Cowboy'', his 1989 film about four drug addicts who rob pharmacies to support their habit. ''Cowboy'' met with great critical success; in addition to furthering Van Sant's reputation as a gifted director, it helped to revive the career of Matt Dillon, who played the junkie leader of the gang.
Indie and arthouse success (1990–1995)
''Drugstore Cowboy'''s exploration of the lives of those living on society's outer fringes, as well as its
Portland setting, were mirrored in Van Sant's next effort, the similarly acclaimed ''My Own Private Idaho'' (1991). Only with the success of ''Cowboy'' was Van Sant now given license to make ''Idaho'' (a project he had originally pitched but was knocked back several times as the script was deemed 'too risky' by studios). Now
New Line Cinema had given Van Sant the green light, he was on a mission to get the ''Idaho'' script to his first choices for his two young leads. After months of struggle with agents and managers over the content of the script, Van Sant finally secured
River Phoenix and
Keanu Reeves in the roles of Mike Waters and Scott Favor. Centering around the dealings of two male hustlers (played by
Phoenix and
Reeves), the film was a compelling examination of unrequited love, alienation, and the concept of family (a concept Van Sant repeatedly explores in his films). The film won him an
Independent Spirit Award for his screenplay (he had won the same award for his Drugstore Cowboy screenplay), as well as greater prestige. The film also gained
River Phoenix best actor honors at the
Venice Film Festival among others. In addition, it helped Reeves—previously best-known for his work in the ''
Bill and Ted'' movies—to get the critical respect that had previously eluded him.
Van Sant's next project, a 1993 adaptation of Tom Robbins' ''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'', was an excessive flop, both commercially and critically. Featuring an unusually large budget (for Van Sant, at least) of $8.5 million and a large, eclectic cast including Uma Thurman, John Hurt, Keanu Reeves and a newcomer in the form of River Phoenix's younger sister Rain (at Phoenix's suggestion). The film was worked and then reworked, but the finished product nonetheless resulted in something approaching a significant disaster.
Van Sant's 1995 film ''To Die For'' helped to restore his luster. An adaptation of Joyce Maynard's novel, the black comedy starred Nicole Kidman as a murderously ambitious weather girl; it also featured Van Sant favorite Matt Dillon as her hapless husband and, the third Phoenix sibling in as many projects, Joaquin Phoenix, as her equally hapless lover (River had died from a drug overdose a year and half earlier). It was Van Sant's first effort for a major studio (Columbia), and its success paved the way for further projects of the director's choosing. The same year, he served as executive producer for Larry Clark's ''Kids''; it was a fitting assignment, due to both the film's subject matter and the fact that Clark's photographs of junkies had served as reference points for Van Sant's ''Drugstore Cowboy''.
Mainstream breakout (1997–2003)
In 1997, the director gained mainstream acceptance thanks to ''
Good Will Hunting'', starring and written by
Matt Damon and
Ben Affleck. The film—about a troubled, blue-collar mathematical genius—was a huge critical and commercial success. In addition to taking in more than $220 million worldwide, it received a number of
Academy Award nominations, including a Best Director nomination for Van Sant. It won a Best Screenplay
Oscar for Damon and Affleck, and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for
Robin Williams. Van Sant, Damon and Affleck parodied themselves and the film's success in
Kevin Smith's''
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back''.
The success of ''Good Will Hunting'' afforded Van Sant the opportunity to remake the Alfred Hitchcock classic ''Psycho''. As opposed to reinterpreting the 1960 film, Van Sant opted to recreate the film shot-for-shot, in color, with a cast of young Hollywood A-listers. His decision was met with equal parts curiosity, skepticism, and derision from industry insiders and outsiders alike, and the finished result met with a similar reception. Starring Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn, and Julianne Moore, ''Psycho'', if not exactly a failure, wasn't much of a triumph, either. However, its mixed reception didn't deter the director, who was soon busy again with a number of projects. In addition to directing, he also devoted considerable energy to releasing two albums and publishing a novel, ''Pink'', which was a thinly veiled exploration of his grief over River Phoenix's 1993 death.
Van Sant fared somewhat better with 2000's ''Finding Forrester'', a drama about a high-school student from the Bronx (Rob Brown) who becomes unlikely friends with a crusty, reclusive author (Sean Connery). Critical response was mixed but generally positive, singling out Van Sant's skill at melding the performance styles of first-time actor Brown and Hollywood legend Connery. However, those same reviewers were less impressed with the script's schematic ''Scent of a Woman''-meets-''Good Will Hunting'' template.
Return to arthouse cinema (2003–present)
Van Sant, longing to return to more intimate production methods, decided to leave behind big-budget studio filmmaking for his next two features. Inspired by the works of Hungarian director
Bela Tarr and American maverick
John Cassavetes, Van Sant retreated to the deserts of
Argentina,
Utah, and
Death Valley for 2002's ''
Gerry'', a loosely devised, largely improvised feature in which stars Matt Damon and
Casey Affleck—both playing characters named Gerry—wander through the desert, discussing ''
Wheel of Fortune'', video games, and nothing in particular. Premiering at the
Sundance Film Festival, the film earned as much derision as it did praise, polarizing audiences with its elliptical, purposefully uneventful storyline, punctuated by cinematographer
Harris Savides' stunning landscape photography.
It took ''Gerry'' over a year to make it to theaters, in which time Van Sant began production on his next film, the controversial ''Elephant''. Approached by HBO and producer Diane Keaton to craft a fictional film based on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, the director chose to shoot in his hometown of Portland, employing dozens of untrained teen actors to chronicle an "ordinary" high-school day—albeit one underlined by an unexpected tragedy. Melding improvisational long takes like those in ''Gerry'' with Savides' fluid camerawork, the finished film provoked strong reactions from audiences at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, who either embraced or rejected Van Sant's aesthetic decision not to offer a definitive rationale for his characters' homicidal tendencies. The consensus from the Cannes jury was unanimous, however: in a surprise decision, they awarded ''Elephant'' with their top prize, the Palme d'Or, and Van Sant with his first Best Director statue from the festival. The success of ''Elephant'' led Van Sant to show the U.S. premiere of ''Elephant'' as a fundraiser for Outside In, an organization working to help youth living on the streets of Portland, Oregon.
In 2005 Van Sant released ''Last Days'', the final component of what he refers to as his "Death Trilogy," (the other parts being ''Gerry'' and ''Elephant''). It is a fictionalized account of what happened to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in the days leading up to his death.
In 2006 Van Sant began work on ''Paranoid Park'' based on the book by Blake Nelson, about a skateboarding teenager who accidentally causes someone's death. The film was released in Europe in February 2008. He also directed the "Le Marais" segment of the omnibus film ''Paris, je t'aime''.
Van Sant's most recent film is something of a return to the mainstream. Released in 2008, the feature film ''Milk'' is a biopic of openly gay San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978, played by Sean Penn. The film was released to much acclaim and earned numerous accolades from film critics and guilds. Ultimately, it received eight Oscar nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning two for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Penn and Best Original Screenplay for writer Dustin Lance Black. Van Sant was nominated for Best Director.
Van Sant's most recent project is ''Restless'', a film described to be about two lovers with a preoccupation with mortality. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Other
Van Sant has released two musical albums: ''Gus Van Sant'' and ''18 Songs About Golf''.
At the Broken Social Scene concert held in Singapore in July 2010, Kevin Drew said that the track ''Art House Director'' was written about Van Sant.
Van Sant plays himself in one episode of the HBO series ''Entourage''.
Van Sant also participates as a member of the Jury for the NYICFF, a local New York City Film Festival dedicated to screening films for children between the ages of 3 and 18.
Van Sant is directing the pilot for the Starz television program ''Boss'', starring Kelsey Grammer.
Awards and nominations
''Drugstore Cowboy'' (1989)
* Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay
* National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director
* National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay
* New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay
''My Own Private Idaho'' (1991)
* Venice Film Festival Official Selection
* Toronto Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize
''Good Will Hunting'' (1997)
* Berlin Film Festival Official Selection
* Academy Award nomination for Best Director
* Directors Guild of America (DGA) nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement In Motion Pictures
* Satellite Award nomination for Best Director
''Psycho (1998)
* Razzie Award for Worst Director
''Finding Forrester'' (2000)
* Berlin Film Festival Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas
''Gerry'' (2002)
* Toronto Film Festival Vision Awards - Special Citation
''Elephant'' (2003)
Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or
Cannes Film Festival Prix de la mise en scène
''Last Days'' (2005)
Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
''Paranoid Park'' (2007)
* Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director (also for ''Milk'')
Cannes Film Festival Prix du 60ème anniversaire (also acknowledging his body of works)
''Milk'' (2008)
* Academy Award nomination for Best Director
* Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director (also for ''Paranoid Park'')
* Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nomination for Best Director
* Directors Guild of America (DGA) nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement In Motion Pictures
* Satellite Award nomination for Best Director
Filmography
Feature films
''Mala Noche'' (1985)
''Drugstore Cowboy'' (1989)
''My Own Private Idaho'' (1991)
''Even Cowgirls Get The Blues'' (1993)
''To Die For'' (1995)
''Good Will Hunting'' (1997)
''Psycho'' (1998)
''Finding Forrester'' (2000)
''Gerry'' (2002)
''Elephant'' (2003)
''Last Days'' (2005)
''Paranoid Park'' (2007)
''Milk'' (2008)
''Restless'' (2011)
Short films
''Fun with a Bloodroot'' (1967) (2 min 20 sec, 8 mm color)
''The Happy Organ'' (1971) (20 min, 16 mm black and white)
''Little Johnny'' (1972) (40 sec, 16 mm black and white)
''1/2 of a Telephone Conversation'' (1973) (2 min, 16 mm black and white)
''Late Morning Start'' (1975) (28 min, 16 mm color)
''The Discipline of DE'' (1978) (9 min, 16 mm black and white, adaptation of William S. Burroughs' short story, narrated by Ken Shapiro)
''Alice in Hollywood'' (1981) (45 min, 16 mm color)
''My Friend'' (1982) (3 min, 16 mm black and white)
''Where'd She Go?'' (1983) (3 min, 16 mm color)
''Nightmare Typhoon'' (1984) (9 min, 16 mm black and white)
''My New Friend'' (1984) (3 min, 16 mm color)
''Ken Death Gets Out of Jail'' (1985) (3 min, 16 mm black and white)
''Five Ways to Kill Yourself'' (1986) (3 min, 16 mm black and white)
''Thanksgiving Prayer'' (1991) (2 min, 35 mm color, written by and starring William S. Burroughs)
''Four Boys in a Volvo'' (1996) (4min, color)
''Paris, je t'aime'' (2006) ''(segment "Le Marais")''
''Chacun son cinéma'' / ''To Each His Own Cinema'' (2007) (segment "First Kiss") (3 min)
''8'' (2008) ''(segment "Mansion on the Hill")''
Music videos
''Thanksgiving Prayer'' by William Burroughs (1990)
''Fame '90'' by David Bowie (1990)
''I'm Seventeen'' by Tommy Conwell & The Young Rumblers (1991)
''Under the Bridge'' by Red Hot Chili Peppers (1992)
''Bang Bang Bang'' by Tracy Chapman (1992)
''Runaway'' by Deee-Lite (1992)
''The Last Song'' by Elton John (1992)
''San Francisco Days'' by Chris Isaak (1993)
''Just Keep Me Moving'' by k.d. lang (1993)
''Creep'' (alternate version) by Stone Temple Pilots (1993)
''Understanding'' by Candlebox (1995)
''The Ballad of the Skeletons'' by Allen Ginsberg with Paul McCartney, Philip Glass, Lenny Kaye et al. (1996)
''Check Please'' by Paul Jefferson (1996 in Country music|1996)
''Weird'' by Hanson (1998)
''Who Did You Think I Was?'' (turntable version) by John Mayer Trio (2005)
''Desecration Smile'' by Red Hot Chili Peppers (2007)
Executive producer
''Kids'' (1995)
''Speedway Junky'' (1999)
''Tarnation'' (2003)
''Wild Tigers I Have Known'' (2006)
''Lightfield's Home Videos'' (2006)
''Howl'' (2010)
''What's Wrong with Virginia'' (2010)
''Act Up!'' (2012)
References
External links
Gus Van Sant at ''the New York Times'' Movies
''Future Movies'' ''Paranoid Park'' interview (01/2008)
Interview (11/2003)
''Senses of Cinema'' essay
''Reverse Shot'' Gus Van Sant: Vague Recollections
Literature on Gus Van Sant
Category:1952 births
Category:American film directors
Category:Censorship in the arts
Category:LGBT directors
Category:LGBT writers from the United States
Category:Living people
Category:Artists from Oregon
Category:Gay writers
Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky
Category:Rhode Island School of Design alumni
bs:Gus Van Sant
bg:Гас Ван Сант
ca:Gus Van Sant
cs:Gus Van Sant
cy:Gus Van Sant
da:Gus Van Sant
de:Gus Van Sant
es:Gus Van Sant
eu:Gus Van Sant
fa:گاس ون سنت
fr:Gus Van Sant
id:Gus Van Sant
it:Gus Van Sant
he:גאס ואן סנט
hu:Gus Van Sant
nl:Gus Van Sant
ja:ガス・ヴァン・サント
no:Gus Van Sant
nn:Gus Van Sant
pl:Gus Van Sant
pt:Gus Van Sant
ru:Ван Сент, Гас
sh:Gus Van Sant
fi:Gus Van Sant
sv:Gus Van Sant
th:กัส แวน แซงต์
tr:Gus Van Sant
zh:葛斯·范·桑