Gus Van Sant

My Own Private Idaho

My Own Private Idaho

River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves star in this haunting tale from Gus Van Sant about 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 the object of Mike’s desire. Navigating a volatile world of junkies, thieves, and johns, Mike takes Scott on a quest along the grungy streets and open highways of the Pacific Northwest, in search of an elusive place called home. Visually dazzling and thematically groundbreaking, My Own Private Idaho is a deeply moving look at unrequited love and life on society’s margins.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1991
  • 104 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #277

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Gus Van Sant and director of photography Eric Alan Edwards, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Alternate 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Illustrated 2005 audio conversation between Van Sant and filmmaker Todd Haynes
  • The Making of “My Own Private Idaho,” a 2005 documentary featuring cast and crew
  • Kings of the Road, a 2005 interview with film scholar Paul Arthur on Van Sant’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight
  • Conversation from 2005 between producer Laurie Parker and actor River Phoenix’s sister Rain
  • Audio conversation from 2005 between writer JT LeRoy and filmmaker Jonathan Caouette
  • Deleted scenes
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: A book featuring essays by film critic Amy Taubin and LeRoy; a 1991 article by Lance Loud; and reprinted interviews with Van Sant, Phoenix, and actor Keanu Reeves

    New cover by Marc English

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Gus Van Sant and director of photography Eric Alan Edwards, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Alternate 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Illustrated 2005 audio conversation between Van Sant and filmmaker Todd Haynes
  • The Making of “My Own Private Idaho,” a 2005 documentary featuring cast and crew
  • Kings of the Road, a 2005 interview with film scholar Paul Arthur on Van Sant’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight
  • Conversation from 2005 between producer Laurie Parker and actor River Phoenix’s sister Rain
  • Audio conversation from 2005 between writer JT LeRoy and filmmaker Jonathan Caouette
  • Deleted scenes
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: A book featuring essays by film critic Amy Taubin and LeRoy; a 1991 article by Lance Loud; and reprinted interviews with Van Sant, Phoenix, and actor Keanu Reeves

    New cover by Marc English
My Own Private Idaho
Cast
River Phoenix
Mike Waters
Keanu Reeves
Scott Favor
James Russo
Richard Waters
William Richert
Bob Pigeon
Rodney Harvey
Gary
Flea
Budd
Chiara Caselli
Carmella
Michael Parker
Digger
Udo Kier
Hans
Grace Zabriskie
Alena
Tom Troupe
Jack Favor
Sally Curtice
Jane Lightwork
Robert Lee Pitchlynn
Walt
Mickey Cottrell
Daddy Carroll
Wade Evans
Wade
Credits
Director
Gus Van Sant
Producer
Laurie Parker
Executive producer
Gus Van Sant
Co-executive producer
Allan Mindel
Directors of photography
Eric Alan Edwards
Directors of photography
John Campbell
Editor
Curtiss Clayton
Production design
David Brisbin
Costume designer
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Music
Bill Stafford
Screenplay
Gus Van Sant
Additional dialogue
William Shakespeare

Current

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My Own Private Idaho in Rochester

Repertory Picks

My Own Private Idaho in Rochester

Gus Van Sant’s groundbreaking 1991 work of New Queer Cinema, which follows the relationship between a narcoleptic haunted by feverish dreams of his past and the rebellious son of a mayor, is showing at the George Eastman Museum.

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