Filmmaker Gus Van Sant Reflects on River Phoenix, the Evolution of Cinema
LOS ANGELES – Director Gus Van Sant recently discussed his 1991 filmโ My Own Private Idaho,โค and his memories of โits star, River Phoenix, alongside broader reflections on the โstate 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 โขeducation. “He didn’t haveโ aโ lot of teaching that he knew about concerning war. His homeschooling consisted of, like, noโ war. So characters like General MacArthur weren’t inโ his world – he didn’tโ no who โthey were.” He also noted Phoenix’s late discovery of humor, explaining,โ “He โdidn’t know what, like, aโค quote-unquote joke was, until he was nine, he said.” Phoenix first encountered jokes in a public school setting, finding them “like โคa foreignโ thing.” Van Sant also โrecalled Phoenix revealing he didn’t believe โhe possessed a smile, โฃonly to demonstrate it, a smile rarely seen โคin hisโ films. “He had this interesting thing – for a movie star,โฃ an interesting absence of thatโข kind of โคgiant smile. But meanwhile, he was very โfunny, and his most favorite thing was just to laugh โand tell stories.”
The interview โขalso touched on Van Sant’s two academy award nominations for Good Will Hunting, recalling waking up to โคnumerous phone calls announcing theโฃ nominations andโฃ a memorable, fog-filled ceremony. “At the ceremony for ‘Good Will Hunting,’ โthey unveiledโฃ this โฃhuge Titanic ship set, and fog rolled โout everywhere. Iโ got so sick sittingโข there, I swore I’d neverโข use fog on my sets again.”
Addressing concernsโข about the future of โฃcinema, โขVan sant dismissed the notion of its “death,” stating, “Moviesโฃ always follow technologyโฃ – from nickelodeons โฃto โiPhones. What matters isโ the gathering, that communal experiance. The art form isn’t dying; its just shifting.” Heโ likened the current momentโข to the early โdays of cinema, a period โฃof experimentation and discovery.
Van Sant confirmed he โis actively developing new projects,โข including workโค on a Gucci project and six hours of “Feud,” and hasโข “hundreds โof ideas” in development. โฃHe noted that some projects,like Milk,can take decades to come to fruition,but remain possibilities. “They’re there, waiting.”
