Candid cameraman

Gus Van Sant evaluates a new film project, his TV ad cameo and Portland’s new generation

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Mar 5, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

It’s Monday afternoon, and local filmmaker Gus Van Sant is sitting in the Bagdad Theater with Darius Miles, one of the new Portland Trail Blazers.

Van Sant has agreed to appear in a television ad promoting Miles and the other new Blazers, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau. As cameras whir in the darkened theater on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, Van Sant and Miles sit behind a table strewn with half-eaten pizza and a pitcher of microbrewed beer. Director Glenn Cole tells Van Sant to slouch down to emphasize the difference in size between him and the towering Miles.

The ad will be one of a series of spots produced by Portland’s Nerve Inc. ad agency and the Los Angeles-based Hungry Man production company. Other ads in the series will pair the new Blazers with Mayor Vera Katz on a streetcar and musician Thomas Lauderdale in a local club. Still others are being shot at a-G.I. Joe’s, a Les Schwab tire store and Powell’s City of Books.

Van Sant was chosen to appear in an ad because he has set a number of films in Portland. They include “Mala Noche” (1985), “My Own Private Idaho” (1991) and “Elephant” (2003), which won the Palme d’Or award for best film at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Other movies he has done that were not filmed in Portland include “To Die For” (1995), “Good Will Hunting” (1997), “Psycho” (1998), “Finding Forrester” (2000) and “Gerry” (2002). “Good Will Hunting” won Academy Awards for best original screenplay and best supporting actor.

Ironically, given the Blazers’ recent drug problems, the producers chose for Van Sant to show Miles “Drugstore Cowboy,” the director’s 1989 film about a group of drug addicts led by actor Matt Dillon. As Van Sant and Miles sit in the darkened theater, the film shows Dillon and his crew stealing prescription drugs from a pharmacy in Northwest Portland.

Afterward, the 51-year-old filmmaker sat down with the Portland Tribune at the Cup and Saucer Cafe just down the street from the theater. Over a cup of Earl Grey tea, Van Sant discussed his previous films and his upcoming project, “Last Days,” scheduled to begin shooting in Portland in April. Van Sant plans to fill many of the roles with first-time actors and held an open audition last Sunday that drew hundreds of young people.

• • •

Trib: What was that commercial about?

Van Sant: These guys are making spots showing the new Blazers getting acclimated to Portland. And so they have local Portland people showing them around.

Their idea was that I was going to be showing them a movie but only one of them showed up, Darius Miles. He’s an aspiring actor. He’s already done a film. He was in “A Perfect Score.” It’s out now, but I haven’t seen it. I was impressed with him.

Trib: What did you want to do in this ad?

Van Sant: At least for me, Portlanders are interested in welcoming the new Blazers because they are our one and only team. The scenario could have been we were casting for a movie and were considering a couple of Blazers for parts, but that gave way to me showing a film to them.

Trib: It seems ironic they chose “Drugstore Cowboy.”

Van Sant: I was saying things like “I hope this isn’t influencing you.”

Originally they wanted to do “My Own Private Idaho,” but then they changed their minds. They could have done something like “Finding Forrester,” but they wanted to do something local. I guess I haven’t done too many films like-“Forrester” in town. I just said, yeah, OK. It’s a lot easier if you let them have the creative control. I guess I could have gotten involved in writing it, but they seemed to be doing it pretty fast.

Trib: It seems that your more commercial films have been made outside of Portland and your more independent films have been made here. Why is that?

Van Sant: The smaller films are cheaper and you want to be here, whereas the big, expensive ones Ñ the more commercial ones where you’re spending over $10 million Ñ then you’ve got to shoot in Canada, basically. That’s where the other films were made. “Psycho” wasn’t, but that was because we wanted to stay on the lot, but “Finding Forrester” was split between Canada and New York, and “Good Will Hunting” was split between Canada and Boston. “To Die For” was purely Canada. They have such big budgets that you spend $10 million on the shoot and you can get $15 million worth of services in Canada. So you just get more stuff. More days, more services, you can shoot more film. Everything’s cheaper.

Trib: Would it be fair to say the films you make in Portland are more personal films?

Van Sant: Yeah, I think so. They’re written kind of about Portland.

Trib: What can you say about the new film “Last Days”? I understand it’s set in the 1980s grunge scene.

Van Sant: Well, we’re doing it sort of like “Elephant.” We’re casting it first, and we’re letting that be an influence on what we’re shooting. You know, the characters we cast.

It’s not really set in the ’80s; it’s set in the ’90s. It’s called “Last Days”; it’s the last days of that scene.

Trib: What is it about that period that you found interesting and wanted to work with?

Van Sant: It’s a local phenomenon. It’s really sort of about one guy, and Ñ at this point at least Ñ it has one club scene, but it’s not about the club scene so much. It’s about the psychology of the lead character. Sort of experiencing his last days.

Trib: Is it based on Kurt Cobain (the frontman for Nirvana who committed suicide in 1994)?

Van Sant: It’s based on characters that have, like, tragic ends to their careers.

Trib: Had you met him?

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