My Own Private Idaho [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Gus Van Sant's dreamtime riff on Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Parts I and II" features River Phoenix as Mike Waters, a narcoleptic male hustler who is first seen drifting on a stretch of highway in Idaho. Mike shifts from Seattle to Portland, where he has taken up with Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves), who is also a hustler. The difference between them is Mike's sleepy state betrays an uncertain future, while Scott is ready to inherit a fortune from his father within a week. Mike feels a real affection for Scott, but Scott does not believe men can really love each other. Besides, Scott is mostly hustling as a means of slumming and killing time before he inherits his money. Mike, however, delusionally thinks Scott will continue with his life as a drifter after receiving his inheritance. Mike's belief is shared by the dregs of Portland, who live out of an abandoned hotel with their spiritual leader Bob (film director William Richert). They're convinced Scott's fortune will benefit them all, when in reality Scott has other plans. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (Alternate Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
  • Exclusive new audio interview with Gus Van Sant by filmmaker Todd Haynes
  • The Making of My Own Private Idaho
  • Kings of the Road
  • New video conversation between producer Laurie Parker and River Phoenix's sister Rain
  • New audio conversation between writer JT LeRoy and filmmaker Jonathan Caouette
  • Deleted scenes

AWARDS

• Independent Spirit Awards

•     Won Best Actor - 1991 (River Phoenix)
•     Won Best Film Music - 1991 (Gus Van Sant)
•     Won Best Screenplay - 1991 (Gus Van Sant)
•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 1991 (Eric Alan Edwards, John J. Campbell)
•     Nominated Best Director - 1991 (Gus Van Sant)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1991

• National Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Actor - 1990 (River Phoenix)

• Venice International Film Festival

•     Won Volpi Cup for Best Actor - 1991 (River Phoenix)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       River Phoenix - Mike Waters
       Keanu Reeves - Scott Favor
       James Russo - Richard Waters
       William Richert - Bob Pigeon
       Rodney Harvey - Gary
       Chiara Caselli - Carmella
       Jesse Thomas - Denise
       Flea - Budd
       Grace Zabriskie - Alena
       Ana Cavinato - Stewardess

• Director:

  Gus Van Sant

• Producer:

  Laurie Parker, Gus Van Sant

• Screenwriter:

  Gus Van Sant

• Play Author:

  William Shakespeare

• Cinematographer:

  Eric Alan Edwards, John J. Campbell

• Editor:

  Curtiss Clayton

• Production Designer:

  Ken Hardy, David Brisbin

• Co-producer:

  Allan Mindel

• Set Designer:

  Melissa Stewart

• Costume Designer:

  Beatrix Aruna Pasztor

REVIEW:

• Gus Van Sant's third feature further established him as a spokesman not just for alienated gay men but also for disaffected youth in general. A harsh, beautiful, and fervently original portrait of alienation, betrayal, and unrequited love, My Own Private Idaho was one of the defining films of both Van Sant's career and the New Queer Cinema of the 1990s. While Drugstore Cowboy (1989), Van Sant's previous film, had focused on a group of people driven to society's fringes by their drug addiction, Idaho dramatizes a group of people driven to society's fringes by their sexuality. As in Cowboy, Van Sant refrains from grand pronouncements about the lifestyle of the social/sexual outlaw; and his focus on the relationship between River Phoenix's Mike and Keanu Reeves' Scott gives the film emotional resonance. Phoenix in particular is heartbreaking as the lovelorn, narcoleptic Mike, whose campfire-side declaration of love for Scott remains one of the most poignant and honest depictions of male-to-male longing ever captured onscreen. Phoenix's quiet, raw portrayal of the young hustler would be constantly referenced in tributes to the actor following his untimely death in 1993, and the close association seems fitting: with its bleak, dreamy ambience and mournful yet unsentimental story, My Own Private Idaho feels less like a narrative than like an elegy for the romantic aimlessness of youthful alienation. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi