Has anyone seen this yet? I just got back from it, and I have to say I loved it. I went in expecting the worst, expecting to be bored, but I was really impressed. Its a fairly powerful film. It could be argued that its predictable, but it also has a definite sense of the inevitablity to it that gets stronger and stronger, and almost turns the movie into a horror film. Some of the shots towards the end are genuinely unnerving.
I read a magazine article a year or two ago about two guys who wandered off a trail and got lost. Due to some very strong similiarities, I'll bet that Van Sant and Damon and Affleck were inspired in part by that story.
Quote from: GhostboyI read a magazine article a year or two ago about two guys who wandered off a trail and got lost.
in the history of trails, the history of humans, and the history of losting, they all must have converged at more than one point to create a situation in which two guys get lost off a trail.
Yeah, I know, its more specific than that but I didn't want to give away any plot points. You can swipe below to get the spoilerific details:
The true story involved these two guys who go hiking and get lost. They're found a day or two later, about 100 yards from the road. One of the guys is dehydrated and delirious; the other one is dead (strangled or beaten to death, I can't remember) and buried beneath a pile of rocks. The living friend said it was a mercy killing, and that his buddy begged him to do it. Evidence was gathered, however, that strongly suggested the murder was anticipated and planned.
In 'Gerry,' Matt Damon eventually strangles Casey Affleck. They're at the end of the ropes, ready to die, and the murder seems almost loving in its intent. Then Damon gets up and struggles a few steps further, and suddenly realizes they're less than half a mile from the highway.
End spoilers.
I can't wait to fucking see this. You telling me it turns into somewhat of a horror movie at one point makes me want to see it even more man, that sounds awesome.
I love everybody (all 3 of them) involved...god I love Drugstore Cowboy so much it's scary.
This just looks so hypnotic though, like 2001...which I love to death. It looks like Van Sant's best directed film yet, just judging by the trailer. He's up for a Indy Spirit Award I believe. He is a fucking great director I think.
Production Weekly is reporting that Gus Van Sant is close to signing up to direct the Heidi Fleiss story "Pay the Girl," with Nicole Kidman, attached to star as the notorious Hollywood madam.
Haven't seen "Gerry" but I hope Casey Affleck dies a horrible death. Not just dies.. I mean I hope he gets maliciously slaughtered.
-- not a fan of Casey Affleck --
:shock: :!:
Well I guess that came out a little harsh. He doesn't HAVE to be slaughtered.. thats just the alternative if he isn't banned from appearing in movies.
Quote from: CinephileWell I guess that came out a little harsh. He doesn't HAVE to be slaughtered.. thats just the alternative if he isn't banned from appearing in movies.
What's your beef with Casey?
Quote from: jmjWhat's your beef with Casey?
I think you just said it.
Quote from: PawbloeQuote from: jmjWhat's your beef with Casey?
I think you just said it.
Ex-Boyfriend?
Quote from: jmjQuote from: PawbloeQuote from: jmjWhat's your beef with Casey?
I think you just said it.
Ex-Boyfriend?
The one and only.
ekzellent.
pure brilliance. u know, everyone was laughing their asses off in the Rock Maroon scene, that was so effing well done. then the laughter died down at pretty much the same time the characters started losing hope. it was great. some of those shots, man, just with their heads bobbing up and down for a few minutes? u get lost in it, they embody existence. blah blah i'm not gonna make a case for it being a big existential joke.
it's simpler and bigger than that, i really like this for the silence and the walking.
Yeah, I agree. The movie was incredible.
I am waiting to see "Elephant" too.
I went to see Gerry spaced out and exhausted and I loved it, naturally. P, I was laughing longer than the rock maroon, the language kept getting funnier, but yes, it was stealthy and skillful.
Shame on everyone for not seeing stuff like this. The abstraction was something rare. Beautiful performances, especially Affleck, who had me spellbound. Loved his Thebes ramble. And the delicate chemistry.
Don't think it was an existential joke. Well, maybe.
Well I *would* see it if the fucking movie CAME HERE. Christ. I'm also looking forward to seeing Casey Affleck's performance since some have been praising him. In every movie he's been in, I haven't liked him. His voice has never impressed me... when I hear it, I find his characters become less convincing. It sounds very fake and it's always bugged me. It's just how I feel when I hear it. But regardless of that, I'll see Gerry when it comes out on DVD for sure.
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They came, they saw, they got lost. While it failed to drum up much business, Gus Van Sant's Gerry was the talk of the festival circuit earlier this year and will make its DVD debut on November 11th courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The disc features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, although there are but a couple of extras: audio commentary by Van Sant and some trailers. Retail is $29.95
that cover is retarded.
i had high hopes for a good dvd back when the official site linked to criterion.
There could still be a chance, remember how Rushmore came out first then later Criterion put out their version, so dont give up total hope just yet.
that cover reminds me of Armageddon or something
good fucking grief this movie was great. who wants to talk about it?
I finally saw this movie! Ever since Feb. I've been dying to see it. It didn't make beans at the box office but it played in Dallas for a week or so. I really wanted to drive there to see it but I never got the chance to. I bet it looked great on the big screen, Ghostboy. :wink: Anyways, I just bought the DVD and I was really blown away by it. The shots go on, on, and on for a very long time but I really admired the audacity. I'm sure it's going to be on my top ten list because it's one of the most unusual, interesting, haunting and artistic films of the last several years.
Yeah... I finally saw this too.
I really liked it... and yeah, P, that fucking Rock-Marooned scene had Me rolling Shirt Basket... HA!
Wish more people had seen this.
what did everyone think of the ending?
possible spoiler::::i've read reviews that say it was cheap, but i didn't think it was.
and how about the scene that takes so long you can actually see the sun rise? wow....
I need to see both this and Elephant again, but for now, I still think Gerry is the better of the two. It leaves so much more open to the audience. It truly earns its ending (nothing cheap about it), but you have to be paying attention to follow the dramatic arc, since it's done with almost no dialogue. With Elephant, while Van Sant is completely objective, he does include clues to what is going to happen (many via a fractured timeline). With 'Gerry,' the biggest clue we get is the long, long scene of the two guys sitting on the hilltop, with Affleck looking at the horizon and Damon looking at Affleck -- I think that's sort of the key to the movie, but if someone hasn't been paying attention, they'll miss it. 'Gerry' is better because of its utmost simplicity.
I just spent an hour and a forty watching two guys doing nothing but basically walking and walking and walking...and I couldn't look away. It was mezmerizing and I can't really put my finger on why. There's really no story, minimal dialogue that's banal and you don't know anything about the characters. I should have been bored. I mean, you watch a guy make a dirt matress for over ten minutes! Maybe it's because I wanted to see what would happen next. Maybe it's because of the beauty in it's simplicity. Maybe it's because you feel like you're there with them. I almost didn't want to see the wide shots of them walking (although the vista shots are gorgeous and the 2.35:1 ratio is perfect for showing the emptiness) because I liked the more intimate feeling of being with the guys. There's a wonderful close two-shot of the guys walking, their faces in unison, then out, then in; and all the time you hear nothing but the cadence of their steps over the gravel. The same type of unison is repeated when the guys walk over the salt flats, but the soundtrack has these eerie sounds of dilusion that sound like something from a horror movie. It's also interesting to see the process of setting up that shot (as seen in the behind the scenes extra), and the huge amount of dolly track laid down. It's a shame it's not a full doc covering the entire production, and a director/actors commentary track would have been nice too.
wasn't there originally supposed to be a commentary? i'm really disappointed that there's not one.
best film of this year (yes, i'm counting it as a 2003 release, thank you very much).
I guess Van Sant didn't have very much to say about it. Since the shots go on so long and there's not very much going on other than walking, the sky and a little music.
By the way, I found those two pieces of music that play in the movie and they're really great!
Gerry isnt as effective as Elephant but it's equally fascinating and artistically invigorating. The only problem I had with Gerry was how uneven it was in terms of content... the first half was fucking HILARIOUS and the end was a downer, though extremely haunting and beautifull executed. But that's me being nitpicky... excellent film.
Not the best film of the year for me but definitely will be on my top ten. Right now my number one is a tie between Elephant and Dogville (which I'm counting as a 2003 release)
when you start of going on a hike w/ your buddy (fun) to being near death in the middle of the desert (not so fun), i think a progression from funny to depressing is only natural. so that didn't bother me.
wait...you didn't think affleck's "how do you think the hike is going so far?" line near the end was funny? that's one of the funniest things i've heard in a movie in a long time.
you know...this was my nightly choice, and i can't think of a better movie i have seen this year (i haven't seen all that much though). Finally, a movie that knows when to just shut up. The dialogue was there when needed..."fuck the thing". We don't need to know what "the thing" is. Besides the obvious unreal landscape and time-lapse shots...this movie had me in a trance. When they are shuffling through the desert (still healthy and on a pace), the sound of the footsteps almost had me bouncing along with them as they moved. This was a outstanding film on almost every level...
I really don't even know what kinda other nonesense i can rammble off about this...as i am still in utter awe. wow.
shit....just look (the picture sums up the movie i feel):
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Gerry was indeed a pleasant surprise. I didn't know what to expect. I enjoyed the near-lack of dialogue. I really got a sense of being lost in the middle of nowhere.
one thing i think is overlooked in the maroon scene. the dailogue is fuckin' brillant. "oh, my bad."...."that's not the place, the place is like a half a mile that way." besides the humor in the scene, the dialogue between the 2 is perfect in my mind. even when damon gets up there....there are a few laughs, a few "ummms"....i dunno, it just was real in it's purest sense. this movie still has me in awe.
i don't think it's overlooked. nearly everyone has talked about how funny and well done it is.
Quote from: Pi don't think it's overlooked. nearly everyone has talked about how funny and well done it is.
sorry, i just ment in general....that the handful that saw it here. hardly anyone knows about this film...and they damn well should. it's briliant.
I just got Netflix last week, and I added this as one of my first three movies... I'd been dying to see it since before it came out in theaters, but missed every chance until now. At the university in my town, there are several buildings left unlocked during the weekend, all with classrooms heralding projectors and dvd players, so the local teens always walk in and watch movies there on the weekend.
I went with my friend to show her Magnolia and The Virgin Suicides, two films I had been meaning to make her watch for a long time... but unfortunately we didn't have time for Magnolia... so instead I plugged in Gerry, which she'd seen before and disliked, but wanted to watch it with me to see my reaction... about half way through, she had to leave, so just about when the characters begin their desparation, I found myself alone in an enormous classroom with nothing but surround sound wind blowing from all around me and the light of the projector... I've never seen a movie in a theatre (not that it was one, but close enough) alone before this, and watching Gerry that way made the experience very interesting.
The film was incredible, I really wish the DVD had some behind the scenes stuff because I want to know exactly how they put this film together.
By the way, does anyone know where I can find the music?
Gerry kind of slipped through the cracks. Van Sant had no indie rep going into making it -- he'd been focussing on more mainstream fare for about half a dozen years. He simply wasn't on anybody's radar. Also, the movie isn't for everybody. It's quite antithetical to what most people expect nowadays. But between this and Elephant, which retraced some similar steps, Gus Van Sant was the director of the year. It'll be interesting to see where he goes next.
I just saw this after reading all the praise on here. I must say I was disappointed. It seems like a love/hate film but I still fall in the middle.
There are many great, great things in it. The cinematography is top notch. The use of telephoto lens to flatten the images. The way tricks are played on the viewer by showing the landscape and than the characters walk in, disorienting the viewer b/c we see how small they really are, how insignificant.
My problem, and this was a huge problem, with the film was duration. I, for the most part, love duration and pretty much agree with Bazin. The problem with this film is duration was either a) over used or b) used improperly.
A shot that goes longer than we expect is extremely powerful. A shot that goes for 4-7 minutes is extremely boring. It is a delicate line and I think a 1-2 minute shot would have had the same power and allowed the film to take it's hold. The other problem is that since the entire film is all about duration, scenes that should hold more weight or are more important aren't because they are unable to be underlined by duration.
I'm a Van Sant and Damon fan but this film just didn't live up to the xixax praise. This has happened before (Buffalo 66 anyone?). I can't help but films have used duration in similiar circumstances much more efficiently and are much more powerful (L'Avventura).
Top 10 on my list for the year, definitely not. It was interesting, but I'm not even sure I would recommend it to anyone.
After missing it in the theatre, I finally caught this on dvd. I loved Elephant, so I was very much looking forward to the movie... and boy, was I in for the shock of my life. Quite simply, I hated it. Sure, Savides' photography is wonderful, but so what? I'm all for minimalism and obscurity, but there was too little to go with here. And I couldn't help laugh at the 'written by' credit at the end.
Quote from: Weak2ndActAfter missing it in the theatre, I finally caught this on dvd. I loved Elephant, so I was very much looking forward to the movie... and boy, was I in for the shock of my life. Quite simply, I hated it. Sure, Savides' photography is wonderful, but so what? I'm all for minimalism and obscurity, but there was too little to go with here. And I couldn't help laugh at the 'written by' credit at the end.
Completely agreed. I was so un-compelled by this film, I haven't even been intrigued to bash it in a review since I saw it like 2 weeks ago. And this is coming from a big Van Sant fan so it hurts even more to admit my hatred for it. Idaho and Drugstore Cowboy are and forever will be classics, Good Will Hunting is a good film - nothing more, Elephant is going to be awesome, To Die For was decent the first time - I really really want to see it again....but Gerry and Finding Forrester, those are the two I'll forget ever happened thanks.
(oh yea, as for his Pyscho remake, I'm completely indifferent about actually seeing it but I've always admired his bravery in making it the way he did)
that's a shame, i thought it was quite great.
neither of u found the dialogue and situations funny?
Quote from: Pneither of u found the dialogue and situations funny?
What is this... 'dialogue' you speak of?
I almost cracked a smile during the 3 or so actual conversations (that's a stretch itself to even call them that) during the movie. It just didn't do it for me. The 2nd half was especially tiresome IMHO. Sure, maybe that's what Van Sant intended, but it just didn't do it for me. I'll still be curious to see what the guy does next.
For me, Van Sant is extremely hit or miss.
Love: Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, To Die For, Elephant
Hate: Mala Noche, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Psycho, Finding Forrester, Gerry
I guess he's like 50/50 to me.
Just saw this for the first time today.
I thought it was great. Kubrick's camera meets Waiting for Godot as conceived by Antonioni. I'm going to buy a copy. With this and Elephant, van Sant has more than made up for Finding Forrester.
Did anyone else notice that most of the music used in Gerry was also very prominent in Heaven? And I mean exactly the same recordings and everything? Worked well for both, really beautiful stuff. Guess Tykwer stole from van Sant and not the other way around, since apparently Gerry is from 2001 (it got just a really weird, fucked-up, belated release, though... I had to think for a while about which film came first, and I'm still not 100% certain). The music in Gerry that wasn't from Heaven sounded Eno-ish to me, but apparently it wasn't Eno.
I'm guessing they were made right around the same time. Gerry premiered at Sundance in Jan. 2002. Heaven opened the following fall, but I'm pretty sure it had already been complete for about a year -- Miramax held off on it for a while after 9/11.
I'm glad almost everyone here likes it so much. I think (hope) it will end up being a pretty important film, in the historical sense, moreso than Elephant, which is inherently sort of dated (even though at the same time it really isn't at all). Hear that Criterion? Get the license to this and re-release it quick!
**SPOILER** (or fake spoiler, depending)
I have a friend who seems to believe that at the end of Gerry, Damon "kills" Affleck by strangling him.
I laughed and made fun of him, but then I thought: "Could I have been so fucking stupid as to have missed that?"
I thought that last bit of movement when they're lying there is that Affleck actually dies of starvation/dehydration/exhaustion, and Damon in his grief throws his body over his as a sort of physical comfort to himself/his dead friend.
Who is the retard, here? Me? Or my friend?
I thought it was a strangling.
Quote from: Weak2ndActI thought it was a strangling.
Good lord, I'm gonna hafta see this again.
Anyone else??
Quote from: Weak2ndActI thought it was a strangling.
yeah i did too. a mercy killing, cause it looked like casey had said something to him along those lines asking him to do it.
SPOILERS
Yes, Casey says something like "I'm done" or "I'm leaving" ... I was pretty sure that it was strangling, though it was pretty awkward and it took me a while to realize it. I could be wrong.
Quote from: Weak2ndActI thought it was a strangling.
That's the way I saw it too.
spoils
yeah the killing wasn't very clear but the mercy aspect made perfect sense. it doesn't look like ur average choke hold cos they were weak and casey wanted it.
Spoiling****
Godardian, you big, dumb bozo
you thought Damon was given his buddy one last steamroller for shits and yuks?
Quote from: godardianDid anyone else notice that most of the music used in Gerry was also very prominent in Heaven? And I mean exactly the same recordings and everything? Worked well for both, really beautiful stuff. Guess Tykwer stole from van Sant and not the other way around, since apparently Gerry is from 2001 (it got just a really weird, fucked-up, belated release, though... I had to think for a while about which film came first, and I'm still not 100% certain). The music in Gerry that wasn't from Heaven sounded Eno-ish to me, but apparently it wasn't Eno.
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Gerry used this neo-classical album basically as its entire score, Heaven also uses much of the album as its score, and I'm not exactly sure if it's the same music (since the movie came out two years earlier than Amazon says the album was released), but Hilary and Jackie also uses really similar-sounding stuff in one part. Additionally, a horrible local theater production of "The Little Prince" used the music.
THE END!
:oops:
Quote from: RegularKarateSpoiling****
Godardian, you big, dumb bozo
you thought Damon was given his buddy one last steamroller for shits and yuks?
no no no.... more like "physical comfort at moment of death" seemed much more in keeping with the film's tone than "strangling." If you know me at all, you know that the thought of Matt Damon and Casey Affleck dry-humping does nothing for me.
Anyway, it really was a nebulous moment- looking around the 'net, I found nothing definite, only "in what
may be a mercy killing" (maybe MacGuff knows of an in-depth article that really specifically gives the spoilers and spells it out in no uncertain terms, though maybe that's exactly what the movie is trying to avoid...? actually MacG has a copy, if I remember correctly, so maybe he'll have a comment), etc. So I'm going to buy my own copy of the damn thing, as I've been planning to do, and rewatch it and see where my error might be.
Quote from: godardianAnyway, it really was a nebulous moment- looking around the 'net, I found nothing definite, only "in what may be a mercy killing" (maybe MacGuff knows of an in-depth article that really specifically gives the spoilers and spells it out in no uncertain terms, though maybe that's exactly what the movie is trying to avoid...?
Try this:
http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/gerry.html
At the bottom of the article (Reverse angle of the "tortoise"-walk) discusses the 'strangling'.
Quote from: godardianAnyway, it really was a nebulous moment- looking around the 'net, I found nothing definite, only "in what may be a mercy killing" (maybe MacGuff knows of an in-depth article that really specifically gives the spoilers and spells it out in no uncertain terms, though maybe that's exactly what the movie is trying to avoid...? actually MacG has a copy, if I remember correctly, so maybe he'll have a comment), etc. So I'm going to buy my own copy of the damn thing, as I've been planning to do, and rewatch it and see where my error might be.
I've read a few articles where Van Sant talks about the strangling, and specifically that he based the movie on an idea he got from a real newspaper article, where two friends get lost in the desert and one of them dies, the other claims it was dehydration, but they later find out that he murdered his friend.
Filmmaker magazine Fall 2003, talking about how Elephant and Gerry were both adapted from 'one-liner' news stories:
"Gus Van Sant: ... In the case of Gerry, two friends walk through the desert, get lost, one kills the other and makes his way to the road, not realizing they were never really far from the road in the first place."
Thanks much, MacG!
I like explanations 2 and 3 best... And I think it's because Affleck's Gerry said "I'm leaving" that I just didn't get that Damon was actually strangling him. I translated "I'm leaving" to "I'm dying" and would've thought killing a dying man is redundant. It would even seem to me to be too late for a mercy killing... I guess I thought delirium, exhaustion, and dehydration made for very awkward physical movements, and it was a sort of an attempt at a clutching at life, "Don't go" or good-bye hug type of thing.
But apparently, I was at least half missing something very important.
Again, :oops: . Fifty lashes with a wet noodle for me.
I finally saw this last night. It was a real nice thing to watch. Kinda like an antidote to the normal problems of standard coverage and plot. A good fresh air film for filmmakers -- though I can't imagine anybody else being even remotely interested in it.
To contribute to the discussion, my first impression definitely was that he strangled Casey, but I wasn't struck by any mercy aspect. It just looked like Matt had finally snapped...
Spoilers possible.
Just got done watching this. Pretty much everything I could say has been said. Cinematography beautiful. What dialogue there was was funny. And yes, Damon killed Affleck. I usually always watch films with the captions on, and it indicates a choking sound as the camera pans away from the death scene. The ha-ha irony at the end of the film could go either way, and yeah, you could very easily love or hate this film. It was so much done with so little, I'll give it that. Lesson of the story, I guess, is you can never wait too long (never give up hope), however silly that may sound. I don't get the praise for it, and I can understand mod-age's hatred for it, but I do appreciate it. If you're curious and still haven't seen it, I'd say watch it once, but don't expect too much, and don't go into it tired. The first 10 minutes alone (driving, driving, driving) could lull you to sleep. *** (7/10)
......SPOILERS........
..this film phucking rocked...evrything postive that has been said on here i agree.......i just enjoyed beibng with these guys.........ithe film really starts to phuck with your head alot.......especially towards the end where they start to walk in th eeraly morning and then it gets brighter.as teh sun rises........that whole scen is very effective an the music is reminiscant to 2001 when all the "trippy" sh*t starts happening........for mwe this film paralells 2001 and one alot....when you think about its true.........i... .i..............am glad you guys recommended this one...........i really like movies that phuck with your head and make you "feel" something.and as for the strangling i thought that damon snapped and killed casey...........
Quote from: NEON MERCURY.and as for the strangling i thought that damon snapped and killed casey...........
Yeah, that's definitely how I saw it. But I gotta give it a rewatch soon...
Quote from: Jake_82
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I think that Carlos Reygadas's Japón also uses his music. And I also think that it was in some trailer, perhaphs it was the trailer for "In Praise of Love"?
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so. good.
SOOOOOO> GOOD>
pretty much all been said.. but my god.. i was right there. sound. unbelievable.. lack of context is so powerful.. only a movie could do this.
its done wonders for my attention span, too.
go on the Gerry plan today.
I have to say that everyone in this thread with the exception of SHAFTR and ebeaman...
IS NUCKING FUTS!
I really found this movie boring and drawn out. I got what Van Sant was trying to do with the 5 minute establishing shots, but when I expected to see something completely different that what this movie was. Basically, all those bad things I've heard about Brown Bunny could just be transfered to Gerry.
Yes, the cinematography was beautiful. Some of the shots were interesting. Mayhaps even two or three words of the catalogue of dialogue struck me as funny. But on the whole it would have made an excellent short. It felt like they hit up National Geographic's B-roll for filler.
Who knows, maybe it's an ambience thing. Or a mood thing. Whatever the case I obviously wasn't in the proper state of mind to see Gerry as some on here have.
Rewatch it in a different state of mind. Now that you've read what everybody's written, and you know what to expect, rewatch it and pay more attention to what's going on WITHIN the shots.
Quote from: RaikusI have to say that everyone in this thread with the exception of SHAFTR and ebeaman....
what about me?
Quote from: mutinycoRewatch it in a different state of mind. Now that you've read what everybody's written, and you know what to expect, rewatch it and pay more attention to what's going on WITHIN the shots.
When I said I "wasn't in the proper state of mind" I didn't mean I had my eyes shut. It's not a 3D picture. I saw what was going on WITHIN the shots and it didn't work for me.
Sorry themodernage02. And you, buddy. And you.
Haven't seen it. Worth it?
Quote from: Chest RockwellHaven't seen it. Worth it?
opinion differs, personally i wouldn't recommend it to u.
if u enjoyed Walkabout for more reasons than the nudity, u might enjoy it. if u were bored by most of 2001, don't ever watch this.
Quote from: Pubrickif u were bored by most of 2001, don't ever watch this.
Chest's predicted response:
I wasn't too bored by it, but I liked 2002 more.
Quote from: RaikusWho knows, maybe it's an ambience thing. Or a mood thing. Whatever the case I obviously wasn't in the proper state of mind to see Gerry as some on here have.
..it really is an ambience thing....and you do have to be in a certian state to watch it really....i bought this afte reading some posts ..and knew what to expect...and i was dissapointed...its great sh*t....try it again..sometime later..see if your view differs.......
I rented this movie a couple days ago and i really really enjoyed it. everything's been said already. oh, and 2002 kicks ass! F. Gary Gray is a genius.
I saw it today and liked it very much, moreso than Elephant. The film's lack of story and dialogue was where its strength lay - nothing more is said or explained than what is needed, the lives of the characters outside of their journey is irrelevent. Its meditiative and reflective approach demonstrates precisely why plot twists are not needed to inspire thought.
Just rented this and I wish I could have watched it in a cinema. It held my attention really well considering but the creeping horror aspect would have been greatly enhanced by a dark, silent, empty cinema. Traffic down my street just really annoyed me. I felt detached the whole time. Somehow I think that might have been an intention of Van Sant's. I mean it's fairly obvious that that would happen if the 'microphone' was relative to the position of the camera. So when I was watching the 'rock jump' scene, I suddenly woke from a trance (thanks to a few minutes free of any distraction) and realised that I was watching a really really really great movie scene. That scene is brilliant for so many reason's.
I think Godardian mentioned 'Waiting for Godot'. That's exactly what I started thinking after the first 10/15 of minutes. That combined with the diversity of the location started me reaching for something I really don't think was there. What a great time for movies we're living in, where I can see somethig like this. In 2.35:1 aspect ratio, too.
Criterion treatment would be cool.
*SPOILERS*Quote from: GhostboyWith 'Gerry,' the biggest clue we get is the long, long scene of the two guys sitting on the hilltop, with Affleck looking at the horizon and Damon looking at Affleck -- I think that's sort of the key to the movie, but if someone hasn't been paying attention, they'll miss it. 'Gerry' is better because of its utmost simplicity.
Are you saying that this scene is implying that Damon is planning to kill Affleck, or acknowledging the fact that it may have to come down to a mercy killing?
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Barry Yourgrau rang up Gus Van Sant about his new movie, Gerry. This very indie film follows two young guys (Matt Damon & Casey Affleck) who get lost on a little hike in an awesome desert wilderness. And then the real trouble starts. Visually stunning, also mystifying, full of long silences, and then a final surprise: that’s Gerry.
The phone chat touched on all this, plus Casey’s shirt with a yellow star; Hollywood and concentrating; the World Trade Center; a couple Eastern European master filmmakers; Iraq; George Clooney. And more.
Two notes: this interview contains spoilers about Gerry. And all 45 minutes on the phone, BY was debating whether he should bring up the gangster-thriller script he’s written, a quirky script GVS might be just right for to direct. A tacky move, an uncool move… But here was the opportunity...
RING RING
Gus Van Sant: Hello.
Barry Yourgrau: Yeah, is Gus Van Sant there, please.
GVS: This is Gus.
BY: Gus hi, this is Barry Yourgrau. I’m calling to do the interview for Suicide Girls.
GVS: Oh good. Okay, can you call like in 5 minutes?
BY: I can do that.
GVS: Okay thanks.
BY: Bye.
RING RING (Take 2)
GVS: Hello.
BY: Gus hi. It’s Barry Yourgrau.
GVS: Hey. Are you guys local, are you in Portland?
BY: Well I’m not. Suicide Girls is based in Portland. But I’m calling from New York.
GVS: Uh-huh. It’s a big operation
BY: It’s nationwide! (Laughs) No, you know, it’s the Internet so it spreads bigger than its source. But it’s headquartered in Portland.
GVS: Really.
BY: Yeah yeah.
GVS: Are there actually girls?
BY: There are in fact Suicide Girls. The idea is to sort of, I guess, to make a kind of community. It’s both a, you know, a girlie-mag site and a naughty pictures site –
GVS: (Laughs)
BY: And also a community where people keep journals.
GVS: What’s the Internet address?
BY: Its suicide girls dot com. It’s sort of Playboy as a grassroots community.
GVS: Cool.
I HEARD THE EXLOSION. I WAS THERE.
BY: So anyway, how’s the weather out in Portland?
GVS: It’s kinda cloudy.
BY: Yeah? We’re loaded with snow here. You moved back to Portland after a while in New York, right?
GVS: Yeah, I’m back here.
BY: Why? New York just wasn’t -
GVS: Well, I had an expensive apartment, I was really close to the World Trade Center. I had an offer from somebody to buy it, like the month after it happened (ironic laugh) and I wasn’t sure about property values, whether they would stay the same.
BY: Where were you?
GVS: I was on Canal Street and Greenwich.
BY: Yeah yeah, yeah yeah, that’s close to where the plane went overhead -
GVS: Pardon?
BY: Close to where the plane went overhead.
GVS: Yeah, but I didn’t hear that part. I head the explosion. I was there.
BY: You were?
GVS: Yeah, I was there. I didn’t see the plane but I heard the big explosion and it rattled all the windows. And then I didn’t see the second plane either, cause I was making coffee. It kinda happened right there out my window. I think if I’d had a different type of a place I’d have stuck around, but… I had lived here in Portland a really long time. I was learning about New York and it’s character hadn’t changed really from when I’d worked there in the 60’s and 70’s. I kind of was missing Portland. So I came back.
TWO GUYS WHO GET LOST
BY: So tell me, let’s plunge into Gerry. Which I have to say I found very extraordinary and powerful and a little mystifying.
GVS: Uh-huh
BY: But really kind of enthralling and one of the most genuinely beautiful films I’ve seen in a long time. Not just the landscape, but the fact that the film was relentlessly sort of (and pardon me for going on about this, I want you to go on) - it felt relentlessly improvisational and relentlessly composed. Both at the same time. It was a really interesting mix of things. And just stunningly beautiful to look at.
GVS: Cool. So -
BY: How’d the idea come of it?
GVS: By just the three of us like hanging out and talking about something that we wanted to do and we sort of arrived at this idea.
BY: And what was the first idea? Let’s put two guys wandering around in a magnificent desert or something?
OR HAD EATEN EACH OTHER
GVS: It was about two guys who get lost in some kind of wilderness. We didn’t really know what kind. But they get lost for three days and you know; there was the idea that one guy killed the other guy.
BY: Right.
GVS: But we didn’t know whether we were going to have that happen. Or not.
BY: And they were buddies going in and it sort of evolved that that happened?
GVS: Well there was a story about two guys who get lost and one of them kills the other. And there was other stories about people who had been lost that had either killed themselves or had fallen into accidents or -
BY: Or eaten each other.
GVS: Pardon?
BY: Eaten each other.
GVS: Or the Donner party eating each other. But just the whole, like, genre of two people lost in the wilderness was something that interested us. And I had some money to back a project that was not tied to any idea or anything, so we had the financial backing, we just scheduled it and went and did it.
NO PAPER ON THE SET
BY: And did you actually have a script? Or was there a lot of improvising on the spot?
GVS: We made kind of like an outline and were writing a screenplay beforehand. The screenplay became something that we didn’t really use on the set.
BY: Right.
GVS: Basically the screenplay was an extension of the outline, and the outline was something we kind of forged together. When we actually made the movie, we had it in our heads. We kind of used these things that were in our heads, but not like as if we had paper on the set.
BY: So you didn’t actually have a paper script as such.
GVS: No, not on the set. There was stuff like in the office. At some point there was a script in a computer. If we needed to we could go back and get it. But we didn’t really have it on the set.
WAS THAT DANGEROUS FOR HIM?
BY: And when you did scenes, was the dialogue actually improvised? Like, you know, the dream thing, where he (Casey) has the whole Greek dream, and the stuff when he’s about to jump off the rock, and the stuff when they go up the first time and do a mountain "Gerry" -
GVS: The rock was a scene that was written.
BY: Even the dialogue?
GVS: Yeah, essentially it was similar. But the idea of him going on a wrong mountain, that was new I think -
BY: Pardon me for interrupting: Was that dangerous for him, that "stunt," for want of a better word? Jumping off the rock. The rock looked very tall.
GVS: It wasn’t, you know, so dangerous that our insurance wouldn’t let us do it.
BY: (Laughs) Gotcha.
GVS: Movie magic… But it was sort of partly improvised and partly not. The "dirt mattress" and building the "dirt mattress" was in the script. At one point.
BY: Oh it was.
GVS: Uh-huh. The "dirt mattress" was. But some of the other things weren’t. They (Matt and Casey) were actually adding and subtracting as they went.
BY: Gotcha. I loved - I mean, actors improvising is something one sees on film; but there were times when the camera seemed to be improvising itself too. Like that whole sequence when they were marching along in rhythm, their heads close-up. And they fell wildly out of rhythm, like machinery that going against itself. That was a beautiful visual passage that looked like it was made up because the camera was following these guys, and it found them doing something really interesting and said, Let’s do that.
GVS: Well, sort of. That particular shot is in reference to another film.
BY: Which film is that?
WHO IS BELA TARR?
GVS: Werkmeister Harmonies, by Bela Tarr
BY: Who was very influential in the way you saw this film, right?
GVS: Yeah he was.
BY: I hate to do this to you, but probably a lot of our viewers don’t really know who Bela Tarr is. Who is he?
GVS: He’s Hungarian and he’s been working since the 70’s. One of his more like renowned films is called Satantango
BY: That eight hour thing, right?
GVS: Six hours.
BY: Six hours, I’m sorry. (Little laugh)
GVS: And he is about 47 I think.
BY: Pardon me for asking this stuff, but if one were to say what his genius was, what is it? To you - what draws you to his work?
GVS: Well I think the thing I was really excited about was just getting his philosophy, of just the Why and Where and What he took his shooting. He’s always been pretty amazing to me, always been uprooting in a really amazing way since even the 70’s.
WHO’S ANDREI TARKOFSKY?
GVS: I saw a retrospective of his (Tarr’s) work and there was one - I mean, I don’t know what his own particular influences are, but he kind of comes out of an Eastern European school that seems to be -
BY: Is it like a 70’s Eastern European school or an earlier one?
GVS: Well, 60’s and 70’s and 80’s and 90’s. It’s ongoing, cause he’s 47 now. But some of the original influences were - I’m just speaking for him cause I’m not positive - were -
BY: You’ve met him, right?
GVS: Yeah, I have - were Andrei Tarkovsky. He’s one of the sort of fathers of the way - he’s one of the more renowned Russian filmmakers.
BY: Tarkovsky? No no, indeed. What did you think of Solaris, of Soderbergh’s Solaris.
GVS: Well, I saw the original Solaris (Tarkovsky’s) just before that. I had never seen the original Solaris.
BY: Did you see it on video?
GVS: Yeah. They kind of stuck to the original pretty well. It was an interesting choice (laughs) to pick a Tarkovsky film.
BUT WEREN’T THEY ALL ENTHRALLED BY HOLLYWOOD?
BY: It was funny, I was just speaking yesterday to a friend who’s a Hungarian artist and she was talking about how influenced she was living in Hungary by their films of the 60’s and 70’s, how intense they were and stripped down and minimal and you know -
GVS: They were informed by the life that is led there - the political life that is led there and their own political oppression. And there' something that’s going on there that’s just somehow rooted in a different fashion. I mean we’ve grown up in the west world making films that you pay for tickets to go see it, ever since like the nickelodeon. And that’s formed a particular type of cinema in our part of the world; in their part of the world it was always funded by the government. So it was like decided upon by a different process and a different funding system, which wasn’t about, you know, people actually paying at the door.
BY: But weren’t they all still enthralled by Hollywood?
GVS: Not these guys (laughs).
BY: Not at all?
GVS: Well I wouldn’t say the Russians are. I wouldn’t say the Russians are. I think that lots of people have been. Like I suppose Satjayit Ray or Kurosawa. I mean different areas have their complete different flavors. Hollywood is something that’s kind of exciting and exists in the world and it’s beautiful -
BY: Right -
GVS: But I wouldn’t say that anything that Bela does is informed by Hollywood (laughs).
BY: I hear you -
GVS: I mean unless it’s like John Cassavetes.
DIVINE PART
BY: Yeah… Have you seen by the way this Palestinian film, Divine Intervention ?
GVS: No I haven’t seen that.
BY: You know what I’m talking about?
GVS: No.
BY: It’s by a Palestinian filmmaker, it’s just come out now, it’s gotten a lot of prizes in Europe. It’s not altogether successful, but it’s really interesting cause it’s very minimal, it’s a bit like Jacques Tati hanging out in Palestine.
GVS: Wow.
BY: Yeah, it doesn’t always rise to what it wants to be, but there’re moments in it which are terrific. And I must say it has spectacular music. And your film had spectacular music too, the Arvo Pärt . How did you get to that, have you been a fan of his work all the time?
GVS: No, that was music that was actually playing when we were first talking about the idea.
BY: Who was playing it?
GVS: It was a friend in California, we were at his house and we were talking about actually doing it and we asked what music it was. And he gave Casey a CD of it. And we actually played when we were driving in Argentina going to the locations.
GREAT GARDEN PLACES
BY: How did you settle on Argentina? I gather you shot in Argentina and then you shot in Salt Lake or something, or in Utah?
GVS: And in Death Valley.
BY: (Laughs) All the great garden places in the world!
GVS: Well we went there originally to get away from the SAG actors strike.
BY: Oh really.
GVS: Uh-huh. We were exempt, cause our funding was out of the states, so as long as we got out of the country it was okay for us to shoot. But then the strike never happened, so - and also it got too cold in Argentina. So we came up to Death Valley.
ALMOST LIKE A SIT COM
BY: Your work has always had this character of landscape - interstitial moments in Drugstore Cowboy, even Good Will Hunting. So it’s interesting to see this take center stage.
GVS: Yeah. You know, there’s a traditional way you write a script and make a film in the west, at least in our culture –
BY: Have you been spending a lot of time in other cultures?
GVS: No. But in our culture, the way we do it generally is to get the characters in the location and then they start talking and they usually talk for ten minutes (laughs) or so. And then you quickly get them to the next location, almost like a sit com. And that seems to be the way we deal with cinema. I guess the advent of sound kind of added to that. As soon as people could talk then we really wanted to hear them talk all the time, and we just never really tired of people talking. And I don’t know that will ever change. But in something like Gerry, we’re just sort of inverting that. So the transition period is really what the film’s about and the talking is less -
CASEY’S SHIRT; THAT DESERT FLOOR MUST BE VERY HOT
BY: I hear you. So how did Casey hit on wearing that shirt with a yellow star?
GVS: I don’t know. He had one when he was younger and he always liked it (laughs). So he wore one. He had it made.
BY: He had it made for the film?
GVS: Yeah. He had it made for him to wear. You know our costume and our production design and everything was quite ad hoc, you know. The guys were wearing clothes that they just owned.
BY: Was it a punishing shoot?
GVS: Yeah.
BY: Cause I remember like when they sat on the desert I thought Jesus, that desert floor must be very hot.
GVS: It was very hot, yeah. It was a 128 degrees.
BY: Jesus! How long did the shoot last?
GVS: It was about 25 days.
BY: And in Argentina was how long?
GVS: That was five days. And then we came up to shoot in Death Valley for an extra like 19 days.
BY: Oh Jesus: 19 days in Death Valley.
GVS: And then I guess we shot the last three days were in Utah. So Death Valley was probably like 16 days and then Utah, three days.
LOOKING & REMEMBERING, HIKING & DRIVING; THE ROCK
BY: And tell me, those were very long takes in the film, did you do several of them? Did you do like one day where you just do three takes or -
GVS: Yeah, once we got the shot set up. We did about eight or nine takes, and then that would be the morning and then we’d have another setup in the afternoon. However long it would take to get the scene, we’d do another eight or nine takes.
BY: And, again, the composition was astounding. I know those are very geometric landscapes. They set up strong shapes. But did you scout a lot to get your compositions?
GVS: Oh yeah we did that a lot. That was something that was sort of constant, we were always constantly looking and remembering where they were and hiking and driving. We did that a lot. Just to sort of piece it together because there were some requirements, because the rock, for instance, was very hard to find -
BY: (Laughs) Right.
GVS: Then we found a pretty good one. There were all these different choices but we settled on the one we were using. And it still wasn’t like the same type of rock that originally Casey intended. He was the one who invented that particular, you know, Man Getting Stuck on the Rock.
POST-ROCK SHOCK
BY: And how did they evolve their relationship, like Casey being the wounded one, the person who cried?
GVS: That kind of evolved as we shot. The nuances of the characters was sort of an ongoing project, that sort of came about -
BY: And was the ending supposed to be like a shock? Cause it seemed to erupt, kind of.
GVS: I think it was supposed to be very shocking, that was an intention.
BY: Also, I must say, there was that incredible scene (I don’t want to give it away to people who haven’t seen movie), the mirage scene involving Matt Damon was just astounding.
GVS: Oh great.
BY: What’s so interesting is when you pare a film down like that is the minimalism starts to resonate so each fragment suddenly has all this - you start to sift it as you watch it, what its reverberations are. It makes you concentrate harder.
THINK YOUR OWN THOUGHTS
GVS: It one of things I was hoping for as I was putting it together, that you would actually - I think that one of things I was curious about was whether or not you paid attention at the same time as you were allowed to think your own thoughts. As opposed to not paying attention and thinking your own thoughts.
BY: I would say that’s hardly a thing one would ever say about a studio film, right?!
GVS: (Laughs) Well, the object of lots of different producers is to not ever let the audience think what they want.
BY: No, exactly.
FEAR OF DRIFT; LOVE OF EGGLESTON
GVS: But I think David Lean - he was in desert (for Lawrence of Arabia), he talked a lot about having his shots go on for long and long and long. Because that’s what he felt when he was in the desert. And some of them (directors), they kind of got that feeling as they were making a big epic. And I don’t think that they were afraid of the audience drifting at all.
BY: Part of it (in Gerry) is because you’re not sitting in a parking structure underground somewhere. You’re out in this astounding landscape. As you find your thoughts, you have something glorious to focus on. I mean, do you look at William Eggleston much, for photographers?
GVS: Yeah, he’s one of my favorites. He actually did some still photography on a short film I made called Easter.
BY: Yeah, cause your light is a lot like Eggleston’s.
GVS: Yeah I think he’s one of the people we referred to in our discussions, Harris the cinematographer and myself. Harris Savides. We made another film called Elephant recently. It’s almost finished. In that one particularly we were referring occasionally to William Eggleston.
BY: And Ansel Adams?
GVS: Not a direct influence.
BY: Cause Adams is so much black and white? This is about color?
GVS: Yeah, he wasn’t someone we talked about or referred to. But I guess what we did talk about was maybe how we were going to shoot outside, with no extra lighting. We wanted to do it so that we were shooting with just natural light. Which was, you know - there was always like a lot of light -
BY: I would say there was probably an overabundance of light!
TINY LITTLE NUANCES
GVS: (Chuckles) An overabundance of light. Because of that, we were dealing with how to capture an image of the outdoors in the same way that all the major photographers have been. There were tiny little nuances of adjustments, on how you’re exposing what type of film, how you’re processing it. Which Harris is very attuned to. Plus you’re looking for locations that argue a certain thing as well.
BY: Yeah. And also it’s not like you have people running around with guns and helicopters to distract people from what they looking at. It’s a movie, but still you’re attending to it with some of the visual concentration that you would with a still photograph. I imagine it’s very technically demanding to get it right.
GVS: Yeah. It is.
CLOONEY COOL?
BY: What do you like that’s around now, just to open up the discussion? Any particular film that you’re drawn to these days, that’s around in the theaters? Have you seen City of God yet?
GVS: No, I want to go see that. I’ve heard a lot about it.
BY: Yeah it’s terrific. Wasn’t perfect, but it was shot with tremendous jazziness.
GVS: Yeah, I want to go see that, it’s playing here now in Portland. Um, let’s see, um -
BY: Have you seen Confessions of a Dangerous Mind?
GVS: I have. I’ve seen that.
BY: What did you think?
GVS: I had read the script a long time ago. You know it’s nice to see George Clooney directing a film. It’s cool.
MADE FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN
BY: Was A Taste of Cherry, the Iranian guy (Abbas Kiarostami), is that someone of interest to you?
GVS: That’s his new film?
BY: I saw it on video, I think it came out last year or the year before -
GVS: You know mostly his older films that I’ve seen in retrospectives. Which I actually prefer to his adult non-schoolboard films.
BY: Name one of them, it might be of interest to our viewers.
GVS: Jeez, I’d have to go look it up -
BY: That okay -
GVS: They were films that were made all thru the 80’s. I think that -
BY: Okay, people can look them up then -
GVS: One of them’s called The Jar, which was about a jar that has crack in it at school. They were made for schoolchildren.
BY: Oh they were?
GVS: Yeah. In Iran. So they were made with government funding for a specific purpose. They weren’t necessarily Kiarostami making something of his choice. But he was amazingly, you know, great with the stories, they were sort of anti-Shah in political overtones.
IRAQ ON YOUR MIND?
BY: Let me seize then on, just to make this freewheeling - and I really appreciate your time here - are you politically sensitized these days? Is Iraq very much weighing on your mind?
GVS: Oh yeah, definitely. I think it’s a tragic sort of joining of events that’s everyday kind of marching closer to like doom (little laugh) or something.
BY: Did you take part in any of the anti-war rally stuff?
GVS: I haven’t actually partaken in any of our Portland anti-war rallies, because of either being gone or (little sorry laugh) being misinformed when they were happening.
BY: But you were in Berlin just now, right? Did you get a sense of German -
GVS: No I wasn’t in Berlin.
BY: I’m sorry, I understood you were.
GVS: I was in New York. But no I didn’t - I was actually in St. Barths.
BY: (Laughs) You were on vacation.
GVS: I was on vacation. Where was I was? I was someplace where I felt - maybe it was St. Barths. I’m not sure. But I’m sure it’s a lot easier to feel the anti-Americanism in Europe today than like last year.
BY: I’ll bet.
GVS: I was in Europe last summer, that’s kind of the last time I was over there.
BY: But no, I mean - me and many people I know are completely disoriented and what’s the word, our attention is rattled all day, on the Internet reading the latest - trying to figure out what’s going on, and figure out how to get one’s voice heard. You know.
HANDFUL OF PEOPLE WHO WANT WAR
GVS: Yeah, it feels like there’s a handful of people that want war. And then everybody else doesn’t. Except for the people that are just reacting I think to the World Trade Center, just saying, Go get em, you know. Which I think is a very simple reaction. If they really thought about it they might change their minds. But that could be a large percentage of the US, but that’s almost because either they’re not thinking clearly or they’re bored and "Why not?" Whereas the people that are really wanting war have a specific objective of Why - which are probably evil (laughs), whatever those objectives are.
BY: (Laughs) No no, I’m gonna put in the interview that your laughter underscores that they may in fact be that (evil).
GVS: There’s no other explanation, except I mean, unless they’re personal. I guess they could be personal. As in like George Bush avenging his father, you know, the attempt on his father’s
life -
BY: You mean the attempt on his "daddy’s" life, I think -
GVS: Yeah. Which I was unaware that even happened (laughs).
BY: (Laughs)
GVS: Maybe they uncovered a plot or something. I mean, do you remember that?
BY: Only after - at the time, I hate to say it, at the time, if I saw it, I probably said, Well there you go, that’s what you get for - no, I didn’t know about it until people started piping up about it pretty recently.
NICE TO FEEL WORLD HAS MATURED
GVS: One thing I think is really interesting, it seems to me that the world has matured. I mean, it seems to me, I could be completely misled. But it seems that the world is mature enough to realize that it’s just completely wrong, you know. And the only people who think it’s right are the immature ones who’re controlling Washington sentiment. It’s nice to feel like the whole world really has their heads screwed on better. It’s nice that France and Germany were telling Bush, No, we’re not doing it.
WHATS NEXT? PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOLERS
BY: Gus, what’s next for you? Are you cutting a new film? You’re doing a film, Elephant, you said?
GVS: Yeah, it’s done. It’s about high-school violence
BY: Is it a studio film again or is it -
GVS: No it’s a smaller film, it’s about the same size as Gerry. We shot it here in Portland.
BY: When’s it due out?
GVS: We’ll probably start playing in festivals as soon as we can.
BY: And who’s in it?
GVS: There are basically just students from the high schools in Portland.
BY: Wow wow. Do you have any other projects coming along, like studio films – or whatever, I don’t mean to keep harping on -
GVS: I don’t actually. Nothing’s on the boards.
GEE… EVER THINK OF MAKING A GANGSTER-THRILLER SCRIPT??
BY: (About to get uncool?) Have you ever thought of making a gangster-thriller script? You know, an action -
GVS: (Loud laugh) Um, hmm , Gangster-Thriller. You mean, like from the 50’s?
BY: Yeah, like, you know, Sexy Beast - or whatever -
GVS: You know I never have. I mean, except on the level of Drugstore Cowboy, they were sort of, they weren’t gangsters, they were criminals. On the level of people that we have here in Portland, sometimes you meet characters, you think, wow, there’s a story.
BY: (Hope fading) Right.
GVS: Also there are certain things that are intriguing that happen in our town, that you could put it under that label of gangster-thriller, but not a literal -
BY: (Being a literalist) Gotcha…
GVS: So far at least.
BY: (Oh well) No I understand…
CHINESE MAFIA WITH HEAVY BRITISH ACCENTS
GVS: But Sexy Beast. I didn’t see the movie, but I’m imagining the type of guy, and I remember when I was in London there were these Asian Brits that were seemingly gangsters that looked like they came out of Pulp Fiction. With very heavy British accents. But they were Asian. And they were in Chinatown. And you could just tell that it was Chinese mafia. And it just was intriguing because everybody had such you know British accents.
BY: No no, I hear ya, I hear ya.
GVS: There are certain things you see there. I mean you see different types of things here in Portland. And so the types of things that occur to me that are along those lines are usually because I’m there, you know. So when I was in London, witnessing these people, it’s like very interesting to try and capture their world. But -
BY: But let me ask you, have you seen Amores Perros then?
GVS: Yes, I have.
BY: Are you a fan of it?
GVS: Oh yeah, I really liked that movie. It was very very good.
BY: Yeah between that and Sexy Beast, I must say. If you haven’t seen it (Sexy Beast), if I may say, it was an extraordinary film.
GVS: Really.
BY: Yeah. I think it is. And done with this intensity and modesty. And Ray Winstone is a terrific actor.
GVS: So Harris Savides who did Gerry is working on his next project.
BY: On (director Jonathan) Glazer’s next project?
GVS: Yeah.
BY: And shooting in New York, right?
GVS: Yeah.
BY: Whadda ya know. Listen Gus, I think, you’ve been very generous I appreciate it.
GVS: Thanks.
BY: And our readers will be much obliged. And best of luck and congrats on the film.
GVS: All right thanks. See you.
BY: Okay, bye.
Sweet Jesus, what a terrible interviewer. Just compare the bold with the plain text. He doesn't know when to shut up.
These are some great moments:
QuoteBY: Gotcha. I loved - I mean, actors improvising is something one sees on film; but there were times when the camera seemed to be improvising itself too. Like that whole sequence when they were marching along in rhythm, their heads close-up. And they fell wildly out of rhythm, like machinery that going against itself. That was a beautiful visual passage that looked like it was made up because the camera was following these guys, and it found them doing something really interesting and said, Let's do that.
GVS: Well, sort of. That particular shot is in reference to another film.
QuoteBY: But really kind of enthralling and one of the most genuinely beautiful films I've seen in a long time. Not just the landscape, but the fact that the film was relentlessly sort of (and pardon me for going on about this, I want you to go on) - it felt relentlessly improvisational and relentlessly composed. Both at the same time. It was a really interesting mix of things. And just stunningly beautiful to look at.
GVS: Cool. So -
BY: How'd the idea come of it?
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanSweet Jesus, what a terrible interviewer. Just compare the bold with the plain text. He doesn't know when to shut up.
These are some great moments:
QuoteBY: Gotcha. I loved - I mean, actors improvising is something one sees on film; but there were times when the camera seemed to be improvising itself too. Like that whole sequence when they were marching along in rhythm, their heads close-up. And they fell wildly out of rhythm, like machinery that going against itself. That was a beautiful visual passage that looked like it was made up because the camera was following these guys, and it found them doing something really interesting and said, Let's do that.
GVS: Well, sort of. That particular shot is in reference to another film.
QuoteBY: But really kind of enthralling and one of the most genuinely beautiful films I've seen in a long time. Not just the landscape, but the fact that the film was relentlessly sort of (and pardon me for going on about this, I want you to go on) - it felt relentlessly improvisational and relentlessly composed. Both at the same time. It was a really interesting mix of things. And just stunningly beautiful to look at.
GVS: Cool. So -
BY: How'd the idea come of it?
it reminds me of these posts we just made
that is by far the worst interview from this suicidegirls series..
this dude must be on coke, he is the kind of person who thinks he is the life of the party but everyone just can't wait for him to shut up and die. wow. poor gus. that's just disgusting.
Finally saw it, and sweet Jesus i loved it. Even more so than Elephant, in fact. I really wish i saw it in the cinema.
Reminded me of an episode of the Comic Strip Presents...; "Four men in a Plane".
i'd say it's probably the funniest film since Barry Lyndon.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fthumb%2F4%2F40%2FGerry_Poster.jpg%2F200px-Gerry_Poster.jpg&hash=843f01aed0dc5699992e7de1f9aba77ff554ce5b)
after enjoying Elephant a lot, i sought out this film. this takes long camera takes and minimalism to the extreme, and it was a bit much for me. maybe i will revisit it later and enjoy it more, but i would place Elephant before Gerry (unlike most of the prior posters in this thread).
i think someone else mentioned the DVD cover - it is one of the worst i've ever seen. it looks like one of those dvd covers you see when someone becomes big and then movie studios dig up previous movies no one has ever heard of and release them to cash in. they should have used the poster above.
damn. upon first glance, i thought they was supersizin' the dvd or somethin.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fec1.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F510BY2XPDPL._SS500_.jpg&hash=821ec62404bcf87222f556b1d6626b3d96b32c8a)
but then how will we know that the movie contains action? like them running and shit
or that it's a sequel to Stuck On You.
haha!