Gus Van Sant

At 71 years old, Gus Van Sant has this physical status:

Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, screenwriter, photographer, guitarist, and poet who has received acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker.

Van Sant's films generally revolve around the theme of marginalized subcultures, in particular homosexuality; as such, he is one of the most influential auteurs of the New Queer Cinema movement. Van Sant's early career was dedicated to filming television commercials in the Pacific Northwest.

Mala Noche (1985) made his feature-length cinematic debut.

His second feature Cowboy (1989) was highly acclaimed, and Van Sant screenwriting awards were given to him by the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle and New York Film Critics Circle, as well as the National Society of Film Critics' award for Best Director.

Van Sant's following film, My Own Private Idaho (1991), was similarly lauded, as had the black comedy To Die For (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997), and biographical film Milk (2008); for the latter two, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director; both films received Best Picture nominations. Van Sant's film about the Columbine High School massacre, Elephant, received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003.

Van Sant received the festival's Best Director Award the same year, making him one of only two filmmakers — the other being Joel Coen — to win both accolades at the festival in the same year.

Although most of Van Sant's films received glowing feedback, such as Finding Forrester (2000) and Paranoid Park (2007), some of his productions, such as the art house film Promised Land (2012), received more mixed feedback from critics, although his 1998 adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's Psychologies "Get the Blues (1994), and his documentary film Promised Land (2012), were critical and commercial flops. Van Sant has written screenplays for several of his earlier books as well as directing, and he's also the author of a book titled Pink.

108 Portraits, a book of his photography, has also been published, and he has released two musical albums.

He is openly gay and lives in Los Feliz, California.

Early life

Van Sant was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Betty (née Seay) and Gus Green Van Sant Sr.; Gus' father was a clothing designer and traveling salesman who soared to middle-class glory, holding executive positions that included being president of the White Stag Manufacturing Company's Apparel Operation. The family moved regularly during Van Sant's childhood due to his father's work.

His paternal relatives are of partial Dutch origins; the word "Van Sant" is derived from the Dutch word "Van Zandt." About what is now New York City, the first Van Zandt appeared in the New Netherland area in the early 17th century, about what is now New York City.

Van Sant is a student at Darien High School in Connecticut, Connecticut, and The Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon. One constant in the director's early years was his obsession with visual arts (mainly painting and Super-8 filmmaking); when he was still in school, he began making semi-autobiographical shorts costing between 30 and 50 dollars. Van Sant's artistic trainings led him to the Rhode Island School of Design in 1970, where his introduction to several avant-garde directors inspired him to change his major from painting to cinema.

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Career

Van Sant went to Los Angeles in 1976 after spending time in Europe. He gained a job as a production assistant to filmmaker Ken Shapiro, with whom he generated a few ideas, none of which came to fruition. In 1981, Van Sant made Alice in Hollywood, a film about a young actress who goes to Hollywood and abandons her ideals. It was never announced. Van Sant began to spend time on Hollywood Boulevard's more up-and-out sections of denizens. He was fascinated by the existence of this marginalized segment of Los Angeles's population, especially in light of the more vivacious, wealthy world around them. Van Sant's debut film directorial debut, Mala Noche, would continue to concentrate his attention on those that exist on society's fringes.

It was two years ago that Van Sant left New York to work in an advertising company. He saved $20,000 during his time in the United States, enabling him to finance the majority of his story of doomed love between a gay liquor store clerk and a Mexican immigrant. The film, which was based on Walt Curtis' semi-autobiographical novella, included some of the director's signatures, including an unfulled romanticism, a dry sense of absurdity, and the refusal to assign a single point of inquiry to homosexuality. Van Sant, one of many gay filmmakers, had long refused to use same-sex relationships as source for overtly political philosophies, although such friendships would often appear in his films.

The film, shot in black and white, earned Van Sant almost overnight fame on the festival circuit, with the Los Angeles Times naming it the year's best independent film. The film's success piqued Hollywood interest, and Van Sant was briefly sued by Universal; the courtship came to an end after Van Sant pitched a series of project concepts (including those that would become Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho) that the studio refused to pursue with.

Van Sant returned to Portland, Oregon, where he built up a house and began giving life to the Universal concepts. He told Drugstore Cowboy about four heroin users who were robbing pharmacies to support their habit. The film met with a lot of critical acclaim and relaunched Matt Dillon's career.

The drugstore Cowboy's inquiry into the lives of those on society's outer fringes, as well as its Portland location, was mirrored in Van Sant's latest effort, the highly acclaimed My Own Private Idaho (1991). Van Sant had only been granted permission to make Idaho after his initial film was rejected several times because the script was considered "too risky" by the studios. Van Sant's new Line Cinema is now open, and he went on a quest to bring the Idaho script into the custody of River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, his new young leads. Van Sant eventually signed Phoenix and Reeves, who portrayed Mike Waters and Scott Favorit respectively, after months of conflict with agents and managers over the script's content.

The film, which revolved around two male hustlers (played by Phoenix and Reeves), was a refreshing glimpse into unrequited love, alienation, and the idea of family (a topic Van Sant often explores in his films). The film earned him an Independent Spirit Award for his screenplay (he had received the same award for his Drugstore Cowboy screenplay), as well as increased fame. Among other things, the film received awards at the Venice Film Festival. It helped Reeves, who was previously best known for his work in the Bill and Ted films, gain the critical reverence that had eluded him.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Van Sant's new film, a 1993 version of Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, was an overspent flop, both commercially and critically. The film was produced and then reworked, resulting in something approaching a major loss for Van Sant, at least).

To Die For The Love Of Van Sant's 1995 film To Die For helped him regain his luster. Nicole Kidman's book was adapted as a tragically apprehensive weather girl, as well as Matt Dillon as her third Phoenix sibling, Joaquin Phoenix, as her third hapless lover (River died of a drug overdose a year and a half earlier). It was Van Sant's first attempt at a large studio (Columbia), and the director's involvement in it opened the way for new ventures of the director's choice. Clark's Kids was a fitting job in the same year, given the film's subject matter and the fact that Clark's photographs of junkies had served as reference points for Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy.

Thanks to Good Will Hunting, a collection of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's books, Van Sant gained mainstream fame and critical acclaim in 1997. The film, about a struggling, blue-collar mathematical genius, was a huge critical and commercial success. Nine Academy Awards were selected, including Best Director for Van Sant. It was awarded two prizes, including Best Screenplay for Damon and Affleck, and Best Support Actor Oscar for Robin Williams, who, in his acceptance address, referred to Van Sant as "being so subtle, you're almost subliminal." In Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back's success, Van Sant, Damon, and Affleck parodied themselves and the film's success.

Van Sant had the opportunity to reimagine Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece Psychologie. Van Sant chose to recreate the film shot-for-shot in color with a cast of young Hollywood A-listers rather than reinterpreting the 1960 film. His decision was greeted with equal amounts of wonder, skepticism, and derision from industry insiders and outsiders alike, and the final product was received with a similar reception. It starred Anne Heche, Vince Vaughn, and Julianne Moore, and it ended with a hostile reception and did poorly at the box office.

Van Sant's 2000 film Finding Forrester, about a high-school student (Rob Brown) from the Bronx who is unlikely to become a friend of a crusty, reclusive author (Sean Connery). Critical feedback was generally positive, and the box office thrived.

He dedicated a great deal of time to releasing two albums and publishing a book, Pink, which was a thinly revealed account of his grief in connection with River Phoenix's death.

Van Sant travelled to Argentina, Utah, and Death Valley for the production of Gerry's 2002, a loosely developed, mostly improvised film in which actors Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, as well as Gerry, wade through the desert, talking about Wheel of Fortune, video games, and nothing in particular. At the Sundance Film Festival, the film premiered.

Gerry took over a year to make it to theaters, which is also when Van Sant's next film, Elephant, begins. The director, who was approached by HBO and producer Diane Keaton to produce a fictional film based on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, hired hundreds of untrained teen actors. The melding improvisational long takes like those in Gerry with Harris Savides' fluid camerawork, and the film was inspired by Alan Clarke's 1989 film of the same name (see Elephant). The finished film at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival sparked a lot of enthusiastic reactions from audiences. The jury rewarded Elephant with the Palme d'Or and Van Sant with his first Best Director statue from the festival at the Cannes festival.

Van Sant's last Days, the final piece of what he refers to as his "Death Trilogy"), was released in 2005 (the other parts being Gerry and Elephant). It is a fictionalized account of what happened to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in the days leading up to his death. Van Sant started working on Paranoid Park in 2006, based on Blake Nelson's book about a skateboarding adolescent who accidentally caused someone's death. In February 2008, the film was first released in Europe. "Le Marais" segment of the omnibus film Paris also directed him, je t'aime.

Van Sant's Milk, a 2008 film that was released in a nonviolent San Francisco politician, was a biopic of openly gay San Francisco activist Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978. At the 81st Academy Awards, the film received eight nominations, including Best Picture, winning two awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Sean Penn, who appeared as Milk, and Best Original Screenplay for writer Dustin Lance Black. Van Sant was nominated for Best Director. Later on, Van Sant said that his time with Sean Penn on the film was "amazing."

Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska appeared in Restless' 2011 film Festival's Uncertain Regard section.

Promised Land, Van Sant's film, was released on December 28, 2012. Frances McDormand, Matt Damon, and John Krasinski co-wrote the screenplay based on a Dave Eggers story. Focus Features, a production company, selected the release date in April 2012 in order to ensure that the film qualifies for awards consideration.

Van Sant directed Sea of Trees, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Ken Watanabe. The film follows a man who returns to Japan's infamous Aokigahara suicide forest to murder himself, only to find another man who wants to kill himself, with whom he embarks on a "spiritual journey." The film was chosen to attend the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015, but it was met with a scathing audience at the Cannes Film Festival, being booed and applauded.

In December 2016, Van Sant would direct Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, a film starring cartoonist John Callahan starring Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Jonah Hill, Jack Black, and Mark Webber. Principal photography began in March 2017.

Gus Van Sant and 18 Songs About Golf were two of Van Sant's musical releases: Gus Van Sant and 18 Songs About Golf. In episodes of HBO's Entourage and the IFC's Portlandia, Van Sant appeared himself.

Van Sant produced the pilot for the Starz television show Boss, which stars Kelsey Grammer. Van Sant appeared on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast to discuss filmmaking, writing, film history, and their collaborations that never were made (The Golden Suicides) and the one that did (The Canyons).

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Awards and nominations

• Career Achievement
  • Provincetown International Film Festival Filmmaker on the Edge Award (2002)
• Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
  • Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay (with Daniel Yost)
  • Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay (with Daniel Yost)
  • National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director
  • National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay (with Daniel Yost)
  • New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay (with Daniel Yost)
• My Own Private Idaho (1991)
  • Venice Film Festival Official Selection
  • Toronto Festival of Festivals FIPRESCI Prize
• Good Will Hunting (1997)
  • Berlin Film Festival Official Selection
  • Academy Award nomination for Best Director [film won for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay]
  • Directors Guild of America (DGA) nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
  • Satellite Award nomination for Best Director
• Finding Forrester (2000)
  • Berlin Film Festival Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas
• Elephant (2003)
  • Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or
  • Cannes Film Festival Prix de la mise en scène
• Last Days (2005)
  • Cannes Film Festival Official Selection
• Paranoid Park (2007)
  • Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director
  • Cannes Film Festival "Prix du 60ème anniversaire" (also acknowledging his body of works)
• Milk (2008)
  • Academy Award nomination for Best Director [film won Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Original Screenplay]
  • Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director
  • Broadcast Film Critics Association Award nomination for Best Director
  • The Cinema for Peace Award for the Most Valuable Film of the Year
  • Directors Guild of America (DGA) nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
  • Satellite Award nomination for Best Director