Gus Van Sant lists his favourite movies of all time
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The strange Harmony Korine film Gus Van Sant called “genius”
The prominence of filmmaker Gus Van Sant in the contemporary movie industry is often understated, despite having had a significant impact on its progress. A pioneering director, producer, photographer, musician and all-around creative, Van Sant operates in both independent and mainstream filmmaking, working with some of the greatest actors and magical minds of modern cinema.
A prominent auteur of the New Queer Cinema movement, Van Sant has made great cultural strides with the release of such films as My Own Private Idaho and Milk, whilst offering several culturally pertinent releases, including his Palme d’Or-winning movie Elephant and the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting. Never afraid to push the boundaries of taste, Van Sant often confronts complex subject matters with a formidable artistic hand.
His travels in the industry have allowed him to collaborate with some of the finest creatives of all time, not limited to the film industry, having made music videos for such artists as David Bowie, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John and many more. That’s without even mentioning the movie icons he’s worked with during his illustrious time in cinema, rewarding him with some extraordinary collaborations.
It’s because of his industry influence that his opinion on the world of modern cinema is so highly respected, regularly lending his opinion on some of the greatest movies of recent years.
One such movie was Harmony Korine’s seminal cult classic, Gummo, released back in 1997. Raw and surreal, Korine’s debut is an expressive piece of filmmaking that shows off the director’s unabashed creativity, telling a rambling, dreamlike story that follows two drifters of a lonely town in Ohio, occupied by deserted landscapes, bored individuals and wandering souls. Though plodding and aimless, it reveals some deep gashes of the modern American psyche.
An ardent fan of Korine’s divisive movie, Van Sant gushed over Gummo upon its release, stating that the film was “Venomous in story; genius in character; victorious in structure; teasingly gentle in epilogue; slapstick in theme; rebellious in nature; honest at heart; inspirational in its creation and with contempt at the tip of its tongue”.
Continuing in his poetic description of the film, Van Sant further adds, “Gummo is a portrait of small-town Middle American life that is both bracingly realistic and hauntingly dreamlike”.
Both operate on a similar plain of American filmmaking, where their idiosyncratic grunge aesthetic is injected into each of their movies, it’s no wonder that Gus Van Sant is such a fan of Harmony Korine. After all, such films as Van Sant’s Elephant and Paranoid Park, you feel like could have been the works of Korine in another world where the latter wasn’t quite so subversive.
Not only a fan of Gummo, but Van Sant also names Kids as one of his favourite movies of all time, praising the film, written by Korine, for its bleak depiction of impressionable New York teenagers.
Check out the trailer for Gummo below, a film that is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2022.
