From the outset, one observation: Gus Van Sant is a mediocre filmmaker, whose only quality is to tackle subjects which touch him, homosexuality, prostitution, the drift of young people. This is precisely what gives “My Own Private Idaho” – his best film – a strength absent from his other works. Inspired, it seems, by certain scenes from Shakespeare’s “Henri IV” (in the credits, the latter is credited for “additional dialogues”), the director follows the tribulations of two kids barely out of adolescence, Mike and Scott. The two boys are junkies and, to survive, prostitute themselves. Mike, gay, suffers from narcolepsy (he falls asleep suddenly at times) and is looking for his mother. Scott, the son of a senior civil servant, is about to leave a beautiful legacy one day. Together, they make the journey, until the moment when their friendship breaks. Now, for Mike, there is only an uncertain future, probably hopeless …
Ode to freedom
Inspired by John Rechy’s book, “City of the Night” (1963), Gus Van Sant’s film, at first, was to be an independent film essay, influenced by William Burroughs. Almost impossible to finance in the 1980s, given the subject matter, the screenplay remained in the cupboards until “Drugstore Cowboy,” released in 1989, was well received. Suddenly, two young actors gave it a go: River Phoenix (Mike) and Keanu Reeves (Scott).
Shot on a modest budget, the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and criticism was divided: some saw it as an accumulation of chaotically assembled clichés, others as an ode to freedom and the melancholy of ‘a youth in search of the absolute. On the other hand, the interpretation was unanimously praised. Sad epilogue: two years after the release of “My Own Private Idaho”, River Phoenix died of an overdose, as if he had never come out of his movie character.
Monday May 17 at 8:50 pm on France 5. American drama by Gus Van Sant (1991). With River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves. 1h40.
