Filmmaker Gus Van Sant Reflects on River Phoenix, the Evolution of Cinema
LOS ANGELES – Director Gus Van Sant recently discussed his 1991 film My Own Private Idaho, and his memories of its star, River Phoenix, alongside broader reflections on the state of filmmaking in a new interview. The conversation highlighted Phoenix’s unique upbringing and viewpoint, and Van Sant’s own evolving approach to storytelling.
Van Sant described phoenix as having a remarkably different worldview due to his isolated, homeschooled education. “He didn’t have a lot of teaching that he knew about concerning war. His homeschooling consisted of, like, no war. So characters like General MacArthur weren’t in his world – he didn’t no who they were.” He also noted Phoenix’s late discovery of humor, explaining, “He didn’t know what, like, a quote-unquote joke was, until he was nine, he said.” Phoenix first encountered jokes in a public school setting, finding them “like a foreign thing.” Van Sant also recalled Phoenix revealing he didn’t believe he possessed a smile, only to demonstrate it, a smile rarely seen in his films. “He had this interesting thing – for a movie star, an interesting absence of that kind of giant smile. But meanwhile, he was very funny, and his most favorite thing was just to laugh and tell stories.”
The interview also touched on Van Sant’s two academy award nominations for Good Will Hunting, recalling waking up to numerous phone calls announcing the nominations and a memorable, fog-filled ceremony. “At the ceremony for ‘Good Will Hunting,’ they unveiled this huge Titanic ship set, and fog rolled out everywhere. I got so sick sitting there, I swore I’d never use fog on my sets again.”
Addressing concerns about the future of cinema, Van sant dismissed the notion of its “death,” stating, “Movies always follow technology – from nickelodeons to iPhones. What matters is the gathering, that communal experiance. The art form isn’t dying; its just shifting.” He likened the current moment to the early days of cinema, a period of experimentation and discovery.
Van Sant confirmed he is actively developing new projects, including work on a Gucci project and six hours of “Feud,” and has “hundreds of ideas” in development. He noted that some projects,like Milk,can take decades to come to fruition,but remain possibilities. “They’re there, waiting.”
