Filmmaker Gus Van Sant and his works will be featured in a retrospective at the Wexner Center for the Arts during March. The director of “Good Will Hunting,” “My Own Private Idaho” and “Drugstore Cowboy,” will introduce his new film “Gerry” to a sold-out, members-only audience tomorrow.
Karen Simonian, spokeswoman for the Wexner Center, expects large attendances for the films.
“I do think it will be one of the biggest retrospectives of this type, especially considering the response to his appearance here,” she said. “There’s certainly a lot of buzz out in the community about the retrospective.”
Throughout his career, Van Sant has alternated between small, independent pieces and large-scale Hollywood films.
“He’s a filmmaker who started well on the margins of the film culture making very inexpensive, local, regionally-based, small films about his own subculture,” said Ron Green, professor of film studies.
Van Sant’s independent films gained not only success, but also cult status, allowing him to make movies more typical of the Hollywood mainstream.
“He’s a person who is, I would say, typical of an independent filmmaker success story,” Green said.
David Filipi, associate curator of media arts at the Wexner Center, organized the retrospective along with Van Sant’s father, who lives in the Columbus area.
“As far as organizing Gus’ travel and all that stuff, his dad’s been helping us out quite a bit,” Filipi said.
The retrospective will open with a screening of Van Sant’s new film, “Gerry.” The plot centers around two characters, played by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who drive to the desert for a hike, but get lost. Their journey turns into a struggle for survival after water runs out.
However, the film differs from some of the films Van Sant has made in the past.
“It’s not really a film about the plot. It’s more the style in which it’s told,” he said.
“(“Gerry”) is nothing like ‘Good Will Hunting,’ so he’s clearly always trying new things,” Simonian said.
Van Sant’s new film revives the approach he employed in some of his early films.
“I think that from what I’ve read recently he’s definitely more interested in doing more personal, low-budget things like ‘Gerry’ in the future. I’m guessing that’s where his next few films will be,” Filipi said.
The film’s style is reminiscent of Bela Tarr, a Brazilian filmmaker who has influenced Van Sant’s work. Often, Van Sant’s films spotlight characters who are outsiders to the mainstream, Filipi said.
“The characters in ‘Mala Noche,’ ‘Drugstore Cowboy’ and ‘My Own Private Idaho,’ they are all drug hustlers or street hustlers. Those are obviously characters on the fringe,” he said.
In addition to introducing his new work, he will give a lecture, free to all students, during which those in attendance will have the opportunity to ask the director questions in an intimate setting, Simonian said. Tickets can be picked up with a student ID.
Tickets for both the lecture and the films are available at the Wexner Center box office.
