Gus Van Sant's Last Days

 

 

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I must say this film is brilliant!
I can see why viewers may have been turned off due to the slower pacing and use of Kurt Cobain's image but if this film is viewed with an open mind, understanding it is not a bio-pic of Cobain and his band there is no reason not to love or at least appreciate the film as art. Fans of previous Van Sant films (my Own Private Idaho etc) should have little problem enjoying Last Days.

Ok, as most of you know this flick is Gus Van Sant's portrayal of the last days of Kurt Cobain. I saw this movie while it was in theaters, and although I rarely review DVD's on Amazon, I just couldn't pass this one up. Anyway, the main character in the movie is not called Kurt but rather he is called Blake. However "Blake" is Kurt Cobain but Gus Van Sant couldn't name his character Kurt because of legal reasons and that loud mouth Courtney Love. So the movie itself is well done, and I usually like Van Sant's movies but this one was a little bit different. Since its a sort of tribute to Cobain and the last days of his life, I found myself wishing that Van Sant should have focused a little more on how great Cobain was....the creative, intelligent,philosophical and caring side of him. Rather, the main character "Blake" just sort of staggers and mumbles his way through the movie. Its sort of depressing really, but the cinematography and just plain eeriness of this flick are brilliant, but the main character is just not likeable in the least, even though we all know who "Blake" really is. And since we all know who he's based on, we are all privy to how this movie actually ends. So while watching it you are just waiting for it to happen, all the while waiting for "Blake" to do or say something profound, something that you find understanding or warmth in....but it doesn't happen. By the time you reach the end of this flick, its difficult to care about the fate of Blake. He shows us very little about himself throughout the movie, he basically shows us that he's really screwed up and is knocking at death's door. Like I said before, he just mumbles and staggers and talks to himself, leaving the viewer to search for something that will allow you to have any feelings toward whether Blake (Kurt) lives or dies. Anyway, on an end note, I loved Nirvana and still do...I was fourteen when Nevermind was released and I'm one of the millions that claim Nirvana changed the face of music forever. Before them, we were all listening to Guns N Roses, Metallica, Iron Maiden, and the like. But Kurt Cobain, along with Nirvana showed us something that contained an energy that has been unmatched by any other band since then. But I'm not saying all this because I think Last Days should have been about Nirvana and their impact on music, because thats not what this movie is about. I just would have preferred that Kurt Cobain be portayed a little less weird in this movie. Don't get me wrong, judge for yourself but the character in this flick is tortured to the point of which the viewer can't understand him nor identify with him. He is a complete mess throughout the entire flick, perhaps he should have been a mess who was able to give us a chance to care about him before he decides to off himself. The very end is good though, the part where his body lay in that infamous greenhouse we all know. There is something incorporated into that particular scene that is nothing short of great. I don't wanna ruin it on you, so you can see what I mean when you watch it. All in all, not bad, entertaining, a little riveting, and alot depressing.

Kurt Cobain was that all-too-familiar spectacle of rock'n'roll -- a young genius who is ruined by his own success and inner demons, and ends up dying too early.

And while Gus Van Sant never openly admits that the protagonist of "Last Days" is Cobain, it's pretty obvious to anyone with five active brain cells that this is a story about his last days. Unfortunately it's hardly a fitting eulogy to such a vibrant personality -- instead it's a slow grind of excruciatingly dull, unspeakably mundane events. By the time the gun comes into play, the viewers will already be dead of boredom.

We first see Blake (Michael Pitt) staggering through the countryside near his New York mansion, muttering to himself and apparently not paying any attention to his surroundings. Upon returning home he makes cereal, staggers around in a dress, and starts zoning out when the Yellow Pages man comes to call on business. He also passes out in an empty room in front of the TV.

If I wanted to see this, I'd go hang out at a frat house on Sunday morning.

The vast, chilly mansion is filled with various drugged-out hangers-on who have sex, go on joyrides and sponge off Blake, although he seems too far gone to really care. And though Blake makes a few clumsy attempts at reaching out, the others see him just as a source of money and shelter. And by the time his mother arrives to try to reason with him, it's clear that Blake has reached the point of no return.... and only tragedy will follow.

Rather than making a straightforward biopic of a thinly-veiled Cobain, Gus Van Sant evidently decided to focus on the last few days before Cobain took his own life in a Seattle greenhouse. This could have been a shocking, haunting experience -- a look into the final hours of a man of wild genius as he started circling the drain. It could have been a look into a modern American tragedy.

Instead we get a film that Van Sant clearly directed while fast asleep. Which is more or less what I wanted to do as I watched "Blake" going about the most mundane tasks imaginable.

Admittedly the settings are lovely -- fresh green woods and lawns, and a rambling stone mansion filled with shabby furniture. But nothing really HAPPENS in this movie, except a long treacly string of excruciatingly slow events that have nothing to do with one another. Van Sant spins it out in hyper-realistic style, with no music, mumbled dialogue and lots of boring activities observed in detail -- and frankly nothing could be more dull.

And though a few scenes have a feeling of imminent doom -- such as Blake's fruitless trip to a local punk club, or his pitiful attempts at playing music -- most of "Last Days" lacks even the slightest shred of foreboding or foreshadowing. Blake just does a lot of random, empty activities around his house, such as a seemingly ten-minute scene about making macaroni and cheese. No foreboding. And when he reaches the inevitable end, that's it.

Michael Pitt is one of the few good things about this movie. Though Van Sant blatantly wastes his screen presence for most of the movie, his beautiful face and powerful eyes fill the screen during the more emotional scenes, such as Blake's final meeting with his mother. Though the camera rarely captures it -- Van Sant seems more interested in watching him stumble around -- he gives a startlingly, disturbingly good performance when given half a chance.

Most of the other actors, though, are no more than hostile cardboard cutouts, and there's nobody here who has much presence -- which may be appropriate, since they're all leeches. The biggest waste is Asia Argento, who is reduced to a frumpy, grimy nonentity with bad hair and not much clothing. It's anyone's guess why she accepted this role at all, because she's virtually unrecognizable and utterly bland.

"Last Days" is a movie so soulless, so dull, so utterly staggeringly ghastly that it's actually painful to watch. Michael Pitt is the sole redeeming aspect of this movie, and even he can't save it.

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1.0 out of 5 stars worthless film
Why would anyone want to do a supposed tribute to Kurt C. without showing anything interesting about him? Read more

Published on Feb 28 2007 by Robert Leutwiler

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
This is an account of the last days of a rock star "Blake" - who greatly resembles Kurt Cobain. The viewer almost becomes a character in the movie as it seems that only we witness... Read more

Published on Jan 25 2006 by pinky73

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