THE LAST DAYS (2005)

SHORT REVIEW: I don’t have the talent to explain how bad this film is. Then again, Gus Van Sant does not have the talent to direct the film, so we’re even. During the explosion of independent filmmaking in the early nineties there seemed to be a time for a new generation to leave their mark on a stagnant and uninspired industry. The likes of Quentin Tarantino, John Singleton, Robert Rodriquez and Kevin Smith appeared and we have come to learn that the mark this generation would leave on society is the same marking a dog leaves on a fire hydrant. Instead of new wave of young, interesting voices changing the direction of American film and offering a much needed transfusion of energy into the system (like we had in the early seventies) we have been treated to self-referring amoral trash circuses. The studios hold up these proud dwarfs and pronounce them as giants. There is no bigger dwarf than Gus Van Sant. Gus has been making films for quite some time now and has yet to make a great one. He has two notable films on his resume, Drugstore Cowboy and Good Will Hunting. The success of these films show that he is not without talent but the rest of his work shows he is without restraint. Even though these films work they are much like Gus’ other efforts. Reviewing them, they really are listless and pining to be taken seriously. These two successful productions noted, we must look at his other dry, self-aware pieces: Elephant, My Own Private Idaho, Psycho (yeah, he actually remade it), Finding Forester, To Die For and Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, there isn’t a positive, useful and well constructed film in the gaggle. His whole career has been based on the debased. Like his contemporaries, he wallows in the sickness of the human race instead of using his position to lift it up. Directors such as Gus are not mirrors of our culture but whining tumors upon it's hide. He receives truckloads of acclaim but as I have said before, never, never, ever believe any hype. This film exposes Gus’ lack of focus and self-control in an open forum. In my opinion, he should have had his keys taken away from him when he announced he was remaking Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho frame by frame. The level of hubris and the lack of awareness it takes to even think about doing such a thing is a warning that something isn’t right. Now, there is no hiding his disconnect with the audience and his diminished skills at threading a viewable story. This is a film that a filmmaker has made for himself. There is precious little else that is less interesting to watch than films made by filmmakers who think they’re making a point when they are not. It is fitting that this film is centered on a main character who is based on Kurt Cobain. Cobain sums up the early nineties culture than spawned not only his band but the likes of Van Sant. Cobain was post-modern to the core and spat at the world that made him that way. He and his contemporaries sung about themselves and little else. Even their songs whining about society were really about themselves. They were entitled to a better culture but refused to intellectual and spiritual tools to make it so. Cobain’s suicide was seemingly inevitable as the implosion of our culture after we handed it over to smirking turd merchants like Van Sant. A culture, like a person, needs to have something more than itself to live for in order to live fully. One can only hope that this film, along with his other recent offerings, will reduce Van Sant’s standing so his sad and perverted voice will finally go away. RELATED REVIEWS: Other haughty worthless wads of self important crap The Jacket (2005) Door In The Floor (2004) Categories: film, movie, DVD, review, Gus Van Sant