Conversations with Gus Van Sant [Paperback]

Gus Van Sant is an award-winning film director who has also overseen some significant commercial features, such as Good Will Hunting, as well as the critically acclaimed independents, such as Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho. This book contains a critical overview of Van Sants work and interviews with Van Sant about all of his film projects, from his first film, Mala Noche (1985) to his most recent, Promised Land (2012), as well as his work on the Showtime series, Boss (with Kelsey Grammer).One of the most talented and imaginative artists of independent cinema, Gus Van Sant established himself with a number of important movies of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Beginning with Mala Noche, the 1986 gay classic of personal film expression, followed by two key works of the American indie movement, Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, Van Sant films often feature characters on the borders of mainstream society. Subsequent films included hits, misses, and a notorious remake of Psycho. Regardless of the critical or commercial response to his work, Van Sant has maintained a vision that is unique among contemporary filmmakers.Conversations with Gus Van Sant is the first critical study to include both extensive original interviews with the director as well as discussions of his entire body of work. The exchanges between film scholar Mario Falsetto and the indie filmmaker cover fifteen films directed by Van Sant over a period of thirty years. Throughout these discussions, Van Sant talks candidly about each films production history, visual style, editing patterns, and creative soundwork. The director also expounds on his work with actors, the relationship of independent filmmakers to the wider film industry, and many other subjects related to his filmmaking process. The conversations examine the rich thematic explorations of Van Sants films, which often revolve around the search for love and community on the margins of society and feature a fascination with del#,