My Own Private Idaho

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My Own Private Idaho

Theatrical poster
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Produced by Laurie Parker
Written by Gus Van Sant
Narrated by River Phoenix
Starring River Phoenix
Keanu Reeves
James Russo
Music by Bill Stafford
Cinematography John J. Campbell
Eric Alan Edwards
Editing by Curtiss Clayton
Distributed by Fine Line Features
Release date(s) October 18, 1991
Running time 102 minutes
Country USA
Language English
Budget $2,500,000 (estimated)
Gross revenue $6,401,336
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

My Own Private Idaho is a 1991 independent film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1.

Contents

[edit] Story

River Phoenix as Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho
River Phoenix as Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho

The story follows two friends, Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves), as they embark on a journey of personal discovery that takes them to Mike's hometown in Idaho and then to Italy in search of Mike's mother. Scott is based on Prince Hal, the son of the king in the Shakespearean history Henry IV. He is the son of the wealthy mayor of Portland, Oregon and claims his street behavior, which includes prostitution to male clients, is largely rebellion. Mike, however, is gay, narcoleptic and has no other means of support. The two develop a strong friendship that is tested by Scott's ambivalence to street life and his forthcoming inheritance, as well as Mike's romantic affection for his companion.

[edit] Hustling

The hustling aspect of the film presents male intimacy that "flirts with the possiblity that its protagonists are gay"(Lang.) Aside from this, hustling sets up an environment centered on the road already. Mike and Scott's situations differ because of Mike's particular restriction of means of support. Scott on the other hand maintains an heir position which he plans on embracing after his twenty-first birthday. Therefore motivation to go on the road is unique to each character. The lack that Mike holds leads him to take on the road to find his mother, while Scott's temporary rebellion against his father influences him. While on the road, each of the characters is faced with life changing situations and people. For Mike, the journey seems to continue endlessly, time repeats itself because he is again abandoned. The first time he was abandoned by his mother, this time his best friend Scott does so. Conversely Scott's plan to change into a good son is enabled by the finding of a wife on the road and return to his family. Both of these journeys trace recurring road movie character motives and endings that transform character identity.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

Director Gus Van Sant directing River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves on the set of My Own Private Idaho
Director Gus Van Sant directing River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves on the set of My Own Private Idaho

Early drafts of the screenplay were set in Hollywood Boulevard and not Portland with working titles like Blue Funk and Minions of the Moon.[1] Then, Gus Van Sant read John Rechy's 1963 novel, City of Night and decided to change the setting to Portland.[2] The script originally consisted of two separate scenarios: the first was called Modern Days and it recounted Mike's story; a second one updated the Henry IV plays with Scott's story.[3] Van Sant realized that he could blend the two stories together in the manner of the "cut up" technique used by writer William S. Burroughs.[3] In essence, this method involves various story fragments and ideas mixed and matched together to form a unique story. The idea to combine the two scenarios formed in Van Sant's head after watching Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight.[3] The director remembers, "I thought that the Henry IV plays were really a street story. I also knew this fat guy named Bob, who had always reminded me of Falstaff and who was crazy about hustler boys." Van Sant got the idea for Mike's narcolepsy from a man who was a guide of sorts when the director was gathering material for the film. According to the director, he always looked like he was about to fall asleep.[4] The film's title is derived from the song "Private Idaho" by the B-52's that Van Sant heard while visiting the state in the early 1980s.[5]

Initially, no studio would touch the script because of its potentially controversial and off-beat subject matter.[5] After Drugstore Cowboy received such favorable critical raves and awards, studios started to show some interest.[5] However, they all wanted their own versions made and not Van Sant's. This frustration prompted the filmmaker to attempt the feature on a shoestring budget with a cast of actual street kids filling out the roles.[5] Fortunately, New Line Cinema were in the process of branching out into producing arthouse films and decided to back Van Sant's vision with a USD $2.5 million budget.[5]

Once the financial backing was secured, Van Sant faced the problem of casting the two central roles. He decided to send the script to the agents of Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, figuring that their agents would reject the script.[6] However, Reeves' agent was amenable to the project, but Phoenix's agent wouldn't even show the screenplay to the young actor.[5] Not to be deterred, Van Sant got the idea for Reeves to personally deliver the film's treatment to Phoenix at his home in Florida.[6] Reeves did so over the Christmas holidays, riding his 1974 Norton Commando motorcycle from his family home in Canada to the Phoenix family ranch in Micanopy, Florida, outside Gainesville.[6] Reeves was no stranger to River Phoenix or members of his family, having worked previously with River on Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death and with his brother Leaf (birthname: Joaquin) and girlfriend Martha Plimpton on Ron Howard's Parenthood. After reading the treatment, Phoenix agreed to play the role of Scott. However, since Van Sant had already cast Reeves in the role, they had to convince River to take on the edgier role of drug-addicted hustler Mike Waters. The director promised not to make either actor do anything embarrassing.[7]

Phoenix re-wrote the camp fire scene where Mike professes his love for Scott so that it was more apparent that his character was gay whereas Van Sant had originally made it more ambiguous.[6] Reeves reportedly was not comfortable with this aspect of the film as he said in an interview, "I'm not against gays or anything, but I won't have sex with guys. I would never do that on film. We did a little of it in Idaho and, believe me, it was hard work. Never again."[6]

What appeared at the outset to be a bright career prospect soon turned dark as River Phoenix was overly committed to becoming his character, drug-addicted street hustler Mike Waters. Almost immediately rumors started swirling back to L.A. that Phoenix and his castmates were using heroin and other drugs and partying hard throughout the nights. This approach proved dangerous given the role of Mike Waters. Eric Alan Edwards, one of the film's directors of photography remembers, "He looked like a street kid. In a very raw way he wore that role."[6]

[edit] Soundtrack

No official soundtrack album was ever released for the film. The songs that play during the film are:

  1. Eddy Arnold - "Cattle Call"
  2. Rudy Vallee - "Deep Night"
  3. Bill Stafford - "Home on the Range"
  4. Bill Stafford - "America the Beautiful"
  5. Madonna - "Cherish"
  6. Elton John - "Blue Eyes"
  7. Jean Poulot - "Bachu Ber"
  8. Udo Kier - "Der Adler"
  9. Elliot Sweetland - "When the Saints Go Marching In"
  10. Lori Presthus - "The Funerals"
  11. Conrad "Bud" Montgomery - "Getting Into the Outside"
  12. The Pogues - "The Old Main Drag"
  13. Aleka's Attic - "Too Many Colors"

[edit] Reception

My Own Private Idaho received a gala screening at 16th Toronto Film Festival[8] and was also screened at the 29th New York Film Festival.[9] The film was released theatrically on September 27, 1991 in 98 theaters. It grossed USD $6.4 million in North America, above its estimated budget of $2.5 million.[10]

Van Sant's film received largely positive reviews. It currently has an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert, in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote, "The achievement of this film is that it wants to evoke that state of drifting need, and it does. There is no mechanical plot that has to grind to a Hollywood conclusion, and no contrived test for the heroes to pass".[11] In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers wrote, "Van Sant's cleareyed, unsentimental approach to a plot that pivots on betrayal and death is reflected in magnetic performances from Reeves and Phoenix".[12] Vincent Canby, in his New York Times review, praised the performances of the two lead actors: "The performances, especially by the two young stars, are as surprising as they are sure. Mr. Phoenix (Dogfight) and Mr. Reeves (of the two Bill and Ted comedies) are very fine in what may be the two best roles they'll find in years. Roles of this density, for young actors, do not come by that often".[13] In his review for Newsweek, David Ansen praised Phoenix' performance: "The campfire scene in which Mike awkwardly declares his unrequited love for Scott is a marvel of delicacy. In this, and every scene, Phoenix immerses himself so deeply inside his character you almost forget you've seen him before: it's a stunningly sensitive performance, poignant and comic at once".[14] However, USA Today gave My Own Private Idaho two and half stars out of four, criticizing Van Sant's film for being "nothing but set pieces; tossed into a mix whose meaning is almost certainly private".[15]

[edit] Awards

My Own Private Idaho received the Showtime International Critics Award at the 1991 Toronto Film Festival.[16] River Phoenix received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 1991 Venice Film Festival.[17] The actor said, in regards to winning, "I don't want more awards. Venice is the most progressive festival. Anything else would be a token".[18]

[edit] DVD

In 2005, the film was cleaned and remastered by the Criterion Collection. It was released on a 2-disc DVD set. The second disc features new interviews, outtakes and more information about the movie. This DVD set is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated 64-page-booklet featuring previously published articles and interviews with cast and crew and new essays by JT LeRoy and film critic Amy Taubin, a 1991 article by Lance Loud and reprinted interviews with director Gus Van Sant, River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Elder, Sean. "Young Actors Go Wild with Gus Van Sant", Elle, October 1991. 
  2. ^ Ehrenstein, David. "Back to Idaho", The Advocate, April 12, 2005. 
  3. ^ a b c Lyons, Donald. "Independent Visions", Ballatine Books, 1994. 
  4. ^ Bowen, Peter. "His Own Private Idaho", Off-Hollywood Report, Fall 1991. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f Greenberg, Harvey. "My Own Private Idaho", Film Quarterly, Fall 1992. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f Robb, Brian J. "River Phoenix: A Short Life", Perennial, 1995. 
  7. ^ Block, Adam. "Inside Outsider Gus Van Sant", The Advocate, September 24, 1991. 
  8. ^ MacInnis, Craig. "Festival of Festivals fills in its open spaces", Toronto Star, August 21, 1991. 
  9. ^ Holden, Stephen. "Film Festival: The Spirit Is the Focus", New York Times, September 20, 1991. 
  10. ^ "My Own Private Idaho", Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-02-21. 
  11. ^ Ebert, Roger. "My Own Private Idaho", Chicago Sun-Times, October 18, 1991. Retrieved on 2008-02-21. 
  12. ^ Travers, Peter. "My Own Private Idaho", Rolling Stone, October 17, 1991. Retrieved on 2008-02-21. 
  13. ^ Canby, Vincent. "A Road Movie About Male Hustlers", New York Times, September 27, 1991. Retrieved on 2008-02-21. 
  14. ^ Ansen, David. "Turning Shakespearean Tricks", Newsweek, October 7, 1991. 
  15. ^ Clark, Mike. "Half-baked plot mires Idaho studs", USA Today, September 27, 1991. 
  16. ^ Scott, Jay. "Egoyan wins $25,000 prize - and gives it away", Globe and Mail, September 16, 1991. 
  17. ^ "Russian movie tops in Venice", Montreal Gazette, September 16, 1991. 
  18. ^ Green, Tom. "Phoenix's stock rising", USA Today, October 18, 1991. 

Robert Lang. Masculine Interests: Homoerotics in Hollywood Film. Columbia UP. New York. 2002

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films by Gus Van Sant

Mala Noche • Drugstore Cowboy • My Own Private Idaho • Even Cowgirls Get the Blues • To Die For • Good Will Hunting • Psycho • Finding Forrester • Gerry • Elephant • Last Days • Paranoid Park • Milk
Shorts: The Discipline Of D.E. • Ken Death Gets Out Of Jail • My New Friend • Five Ways To Kill Yourself • Thanksgiving Prayer • Four Boys In A Volvo • Ballad Of The Skeletons • Paris, je t'aime (segment "Le Marais") • Chacun Son Cinéma