My Own Private Dialogue with Director GUS VAN SANT
By Tyler Malone
Spring 2013
(As seen in PMc Magazine, May 2013)
—
Great artists are often those who push their respective mediums into
new directions, questioning, through technique and tropology, that which
came before. They needn’t necessarily invent whole new ways of thinking
about or experiencing art, but it is important that they slightly fray
the edges of the tapestry that makes up the “canon” of their artistic
discipline.
When I spoke with director Gus Van Sant, I was pleased to learn that
this concept of pushing the boundaries of cinema was an idea that was on
his mind. Whether he makes big Hollywood movies or small indie films,
Van Sant as artist is always interested in the “art” of cinema.
While Van Sant certainly has some stylistic idiosyncrasies which the
discerning viewer can pick up on from film to film, the uninitiated
might find it surprising to realize that the same guy who made
My Own Private Idaho went on to make
Finding Forrester, and that the guy who made
Milk had made
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.
His resume is long and impressive:
Drugstore Cowboy was his early critical success,
Good Will Hunting his biggest from a commercial standpoint, but later it was the small film
Elephant which won him the coveted Palme d’Or (the top prize at
Cannes).
Some of Gus Van Sant’s films, admittedly, work better than
others–some are praised, some are not–but most critics can agree that
his films are always interesting, the work of a true auteur. For someone
with such a varied career, I was surprised to discover the endearing
fact that Van Sant claims he loves all his films equally–though he has
no pretense that they’ll last forever. Celluloid isn’t stone, and
digital files even less so.
Tyler Malone: Ever since I visited Thomas Jefferson’s grave
at Monticello a number of years ago, and the glaring omission in his
epitaph was pointed out to me, I’ve been intrigued by what great people
and great artists want to be remembered for. [Jefferson doesn't
mention his presidency, nor any accomplishment he achieved during it, on
his gravestone--just that he authored the Declaration of Independence
and the Statute for Religious Freedom in Virginia as well as that he
founded the University of Virginia.] Do you have a film or a few
films that you really want to be remembered for? Ones you personally
think stand above the rest regardless of whether or not they’re the ones
that get the most critical or popular acclaim?
Gus Van Sant: I like all of them, so I don’t really have any things
that I want to stand out. I always figure that the things that remain,
if they are like tombstones, will be things like car keys, or ripped
shirts, probably not films of mine. Maybe a few frames of one of them,
but judging by what we have left over from the past, most of it is made
of stone, so film probably will not last.
TM: You’ve made big Hollywood films and small independent
films, and continue to kind of vacillate between the two worlds. Do you
prefer one or the other? And what do you think is the benefit of being
able to move between the two?
GVS: Some of them are made in collaboration with others, which are
the Hollywood ones, then the other ones are coming from me alone, and
those are the smaller less Hollywood ones. I haven’t yet made a really
big Hollywood film on purpose, but that’s what I’d like to do next if I
can.
TM: In addition to being a filmmaker, you’re also an
accomplished painter. How does your painting influence your filmmaking?
And vice versa?
GVS: I guess it relates in a visual way. I have in the past taken images from the paintings, like the barn crash in
My Own Private Idaho is from a painting, or floating images in
Drugstore Cowboy are also from paintings. But there isn’t too much of a relationship, at least that I know of…
TM: I know you’re friends with Harmony Korine, and he’s the one who got you interested in Alan Clarke’s Elephant,
which I’ve read had an influence on your Palme d’Or winning film of the
same name. I’d be curious to hear what your thoughts are on Korine’s
newest film Spring Breakers…
GVS: Yes, Harmony had told me about when he saw
Elephant and said it was his favorite film. And Harmony was supposed to write the script to my film, which was only called
Elephant
because Colin Calendar of HBO who produced the film, who had previously
worked at BBC, referred to Alan Clarke’s film as a work that commented
on Northern Ireland violence right during the time when it was at its
height in 1989. He said he couldn’t do “Columbine” (he meant making a
direct dramatic unfolding of the Columbine events) but he could do
“Elephant” (by which I think he meant a more universal comment on high
school violence). I actually didn’t see Alan Clarke’s
Elephant
until later, after we had made our film. I was influenced by the long
tracking shots because of Bela Tarr, a Hungarian filmmaker, who himself
may have been influenced by Alan Clarke’s filmmaking, so the greatest
influence was just the title. I used the title because Colin would
refer to our film as
Elephant, and so I asked Danny Boyle, a producer of
Elephant,
if he though it would be okay. But there have been a few red-faced
Brits who feel I ripped off Alan Clarke. Harmony never made a script
and I wrote it later after a few years of procrastination.
As far as
Spring Breakers goes, I have seen it, and I thought it was a pretty nice cautionary tale…
TM: Another 2013 film that I wanted to ask you about is the
much-talked about Paul Schrader and Bret Easton Ellis collaboration, The Canyons,
starring Lindsey Lohan, which you’re also an actor in. Tell me a bit
about your role, and about how that opportunity came about. Have you
seen a cut of the film? Any thoughts on the production?
GVS: I haven’t seen
The Canyons yet. I played a psychiatrist in it, and I knew the producer, and he and Bret Easton Ellis asked me to play the role.
TM: You’re well-known for great casting decisions, for
picking the perfect person for the right role, whether they are big name
movie stars, lesser-known actors, or even untrained high school
students. Is there an actor or actress you’ve been dying to work with
but haven’t yet because you just haven’t found the right role for them?
Or for some other reason you’ve just never been able to collaborate with
them?
GVS: Not so far. I would ideally like to cast unknowns, but it’s not
what I’ve been doing, I use a lot of well-known actors, but the ideal to
me is an unknown actor.
TM: Speaking of perfect casting, your use of River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho
still is one of those phenomenal choices that comes to mind. What a
great film and what a great performance! This Halloween will mark the
20th anniversary of his passing. Do you have any thoughts on River
Phoenix looking back two decades past?
GVS: Yes, he was great, and he is very missed. He was the one person
that in my life, it just seemed impossible that he would stop being,
like JFK.
TM: On Milk and on Restless, I read that, inspired by Terrence Malick, you did a lot of silent takes. You even released a “silent” version of Restless
on the DVD stitched from those silent takes. Is that something you now
do with all your films or does it just depend on the story you’re
telling whether or not you would film silent takes of each scene?
GVS: It is a way to have material where there is no dialogue,
sometimes the scenes don’t need dialogue–and if the script has a lot of
dialogue, you do some takes without, just to have some choices later on.
TM: As a filmmaker who oscillates between directing your own
material and directing others’ scripts, what draws you to a script and
makes you decide that it is the next film you should make? And also,
what makes you decide you want to write for a specific project as
opposed to having someone else write it?
GVS: It’s mostly an artistic inspiration, not something that you
could explain, other than an irrational compelling reason to propel
yourself into a particular project for reasons you can’t quite
understand to yourself. I can write some things, but I can also be
limited as a writer, so I sometimes want other people to write for me.
TM: I know Milk was in the works for years before it
finally came to fruition. Is there any other project you’ve always
wanted to make work, but that has still always continued to elude you?
GVS: There are a few projects that have never been made, some are
just thoughts. There was one recently that just came back into being,
and it’s always interesting when an old idea becomes fresh again..
TM: In an interview with Bruce LaBruce a while back, you were
talking about your interest in challenging the narrative techniques of
film, and you said: “Otherwise I might as well be directing Superman or X-Men.
Either go for the money or actually try to question the medium.” Could
you ever see yourself making a superhero film? Couldn’t you “try to
question the medium” in the context of a bigger Hollywood production
(which I think you’ve certainly done, but obviously not in a superhero
film, or a big tentpole style franchise film)?
GVS: Yes, I think that you can do big projects that are pushing the
medium in new ways, that would be the ultimate. It’s just that the
audience has to be able to, in some ways, catch up to you. Otherwise,
you can lose them quite easily. When you go a little too far, there is
trouble, which is what some artists are pushing for, and sometimes what
I’m pushing for. Yes, I could do a big film and would like to.
TM: I always love the THR Oscar Roundtables, and in the directors’ roundtable
this year, you quoted Dennis Hopper saying that something harder than
making a movie is not making a movie. You went on to talk about those
odd moments between making movies, where you’re happy to be done with a
film, and yet you’re happy to get to your next project. I feel like I’m
potentially interviewing you at an interesting time in that context. Are
you between projects right now or are you already on to your next
project? If so, what stage are you at and can you talk about it? We’d
love to know what you’re doing next…
GVS: Not sure what is next, but yes, Dennis [Hopper] was probably
saying that it is nice to be working on something, to be able to direct
your energy someplace, to ward off boredom.
—
Gus Van Sant is an Academy Award nominated and Palme d’Or winning director. He has made such iconic films as
Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, Elephant, and
Milk.
LINKS:
Gus van Sant on IMDb
—
Written and Edited by Tyler Malone
Photography by Patrick McMullan, Andreas Branch, David Crotty & Nicholas Hunt for PatrickMcMullan.com
Design by Marie Havens
—
Captions:
Page 1/Cover:
Gus Van Sant, SUPRA Footwear Presents the SPRING BREAKERS LA
Premiere and After Party, Arclight Cinemas and Emerson Theatre,
Hollywood, CA, March 14, 2013, Photography by David Crotty for Patrick
McMullan.com
Page 2:
Ryan McGinley & Gus Van Sant, The Cinema Society with Dior Homme
& GQ host the after party for “Restless,” Electric Room at Dream
Downtown, NYC, September 14, 2011, Photography by Nicholas Hunt for
Patrick McMullan.com
Page 3:
Gus van Sant, Greg Gorman, & John Waters, Ed Ruscha PSYCHO
SPAGHETTI WESTERNS Opening, Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills, February
24, 2011, Photography by Patrick McMullan for Patrick McMullan.com
Page 4:
Juliette Lewis, Gus Van Sant, & Kyra Sedgwick, Sally Singer
and Jacob Brown host the T: The New York Times Style Magazine pre Golden
Globes Party, Garden’s of Taxco, West Hollywood, CA, January 13, 2011,
Photography by Andreas Branch for PatrickMcMullan.com
Page 5:
Gus Van Sant & Ron Howard, GAGOSIAN GALLERY Opening of GUS
VAN SANT and JAMES FRANCO’S: Unfinished, Gagosian Gallery, Beverly
Hills, February 25, 2011, Photography by Clint Spaudling for
PatrickMcMullan.com
Page 6:
Gus Van Sant & Usher, THE CINEMA SOCIETY with DIOR Homme
& GQ host a screening of “Restless,” Landmark Sunshine Theater, NYC,
September 14, 2011, Photography by Nicholas Hunt for
PatrickMcMullan.com
