Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

July 2 - 10, 2010

Last Days
( Last Days )

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2005, 97 min
Section: Horizons

Director: Gus Van Sant
Screenplay: Gus Van Sant
Dir. of Photography: Harris Savides
Designer: Tim Grimes
Editor: Gus Van Sant
Producer: Dany Wolf
Production: HBO Films, Meno Film Co.
Sales: HBO Films London
Distributor: SPI International CE

Cast

Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, Asia Argento, Scott Green

Synopsis

Blake is lonely in his private life and on stage as well: crowds of fans and his many ‘friends,’ most of whom are only after money or the possibility of capitalizing on his success, are not helping him cope with his feelings of isolation and the difficulties of communication. During the hours which end up being the last of his life, Blake wants to be alone — to figure out who or what has made any sense in his life. Gus Van Sant’s Last Days is a brilliant cinematic contemplation of a talented, albeit eccentric musician who in his last days experiences the intensity of everything that went into creating or transforming his existence, both private and professional. Despite the fact that the filmmaker was inspired by singer Kurt Cobain, his narrative goes beyond the descriptionof a concrete individual to become a provocative statement of a talented individual’s relationship to his own life, to a role which was forced upon him, and to the freedom to do as he likes.

About the director

Gus Van Sant (b. 1952, Louisville, Kentucky, USA) studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He started out under producer Roger Corman and as assistant director to Ken Shapiro. He grabbed instant attention with his debut (financed by making commercials), a story of gay love gone awry entitled Mala noche (1985; screened at Karlovy Vary as part of the Magnificent Seven section). Since then homosexual motifs regularly appear in his films. Other work includes Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), To Die For (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997) and Finding Forrester (2000), with which he tried to attract a wider audience. He shot a faithful remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho (1998). With Gerry (2002) and Elephant (2003; Palme d’Or at Cannes) he returned to the more personal strand in his work. Paris, je t’aime (2005) included his contribution, “4th arrondissement.”