Repertory Pick: Return to the New Queer
October 11, 2012
Film Info
- United States
- 1991
- 104 minutes
- Color
- 1.77:1
- English
- Spine #277
River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves star in Gus Van Sant’s haunting tale of two young street hustlers: Mike Waters, a sensitive narcoleptic who dreams of the mother who abandoned him, and Scott Favor, the wayward son of the mayor of Portland and object of Mike’s desire. Navigating a volatile world of junkies, thieves, and johns, Mike takes Scott on a quest from the grungy streets to the open highways of the Pacific Northwest, in search of an elusive place called home. Visually dazzling and groundbreaking, My Own Private Idaho is a deeply moving look at unrequited love and life at society’s margins.
Cast
| Mike Waters | River Phoenix |
| Scott Favor | Keanu Reeves |
| Richard Waters | James Russo |
| Bob Pigeon | William Richert |
| Gary | Rodney Harvey |
| Budd | Flea |
| Hans | Udo Kier |
| Digger | Michael Parker |
| Alena | Grace Zabriskie |
| Daddy Carroll | Mickey Cottrell |
Credits
| Director | Gus Van Sant |
| Producer | Laurie Parker |
| Cinematography | Eric Alan Edwards and John Campbell |
| Screenplay | Gus Van Sant |
| Additional dialogue | William Shakespeare |
| Executive producer | Gus Van Sant |
| Editing | Curtiss Clayton |
| Production design | David Brisbin |
| Music | Bill Stafford |
Disc Features
DIRECTOR APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- New Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
- Exclusive new audio interview with Gus Van Sant by filmmaker Todd Haynes
- The Making of “My Own Private Idaho,” a new documentary featuring interviews with Idaho crew members
- Kings of the Road, a new video interview with film scholar Paul Arthur in which he discusses Van Sant’s adaptation of Orson Welles and Shakespeare
- New video conversation between producer Laurie Parker and River Phoenix’s sister Rain
- New audio conversation between writer JT LeRoy (The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things) and filmmaker Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation)
- Deleted scenes
- Original theatrical trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Plus: A 64-page book featuring new essays by JT LeRoy and film critic Amy Taubin, a 1991 article by Lance Loud, and reprinted interviews with Van Sant, Phoenix, and Reeves
New cover by Marc English
Current Posts
Big Screen
Photo Galleries
Film Essays
My Own Private Idaho: Private Places
By March 04, 2005
It’s night in the desert. Mike (River Phoenix), a teenaged hustler given to bouts of . . . Read more »
Film Essays
My Own Private Idaho: Private Places
By March 04, 2005
It’s night in the desert. Mike (River Phoenix), a teenaged hustler given to bouts of . . . Read more »
Big Screen
Photo Galleries
News
Gloomy Gus
October 21, 2009
It’s been only four years since the last film in his Death Trilogy, but Gus Van Sant is . . . Read more »
Film Essays
My Own Private Idaho: Private Places
By March 04, 2005
It’s night in the desert. Mike (River Phoenix), a teenaged hustler given to bouts of . . . Read more »
