The Five Most Important Movies for Gus Van Sant

(image from The Vicarious Music)

Gus Van Sant is one of the most radical directors among the great names of today's movie world. His Gerry and Elephant are masterpieces. And Paranoid Park is the movie that made me understand better his filming approach: he is not an observer; he is immersing into the world of his heroes, to be there, to live there, to feel what they feel, to take the picture from the center of the circle.

He gave to Newsweek his top of five most important movies. It is a list as radical as his philosophy of creating a movie. His top contains movies from 1927 to 2009:

1. Sátántangó (Satan's Tango, Béla Tarr, 1994): he likes Béla Tarr's directorial style, retracing time in each of its sections—yet it's linear.
2. Sunrise (F. W. Murnau, 1927): it shows the opulence of Hollywood in the 1920s; there was a style of creating elaborate sets that cannot be seen any longer.
3. The Last of England (Derek Jarman, 1988): the structure becomes visual, rather than relying on a verbal explanation.
4. The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges, 1942): it's wild, and the epitome of Preston Sturges.
5. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008 - European release in 2009): a pastiche of existence; there's no way to describe it; it's pretty intense.
   

I hope I'll make it to see Synecdoche, New York this coming weekend.

(Filmofilia)