Last Days (2005)

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writer (WGA):

Gus Van Sant (written by)

Release Date:

13 May 2005 (France)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

Rock and roll will never die.

Plot:

A Seattle-set rock & roll drama about a musician whose life and career is reminiscent of Kurt Cobain's.

Plot Keywords:

Song | Woods | House | Musician | Kurt Cobain

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Michael Pitt	...	Blake
Lukas Haas	...	Luke
Asia Argento	...	Asia
Scott Patrick Green	...	Scott (as Scott Green)
Nicole Vicius	...	Nicole
Ricky Jay	...	Detective
Ryan Orion	...	Donovan
Harmony Korine	...	Guy in Club
Rodrigo Lopresti	...	Band in Club (as The Hermitt)
Kim Gordon	...	Record Executive
Adam Friberg	...	Elder Friberg #1
Andy Friberg	...	Elder Friberg #2
Thadeus A. Thomas	...	Yellow Book Salesman
Chip Marks	...	Tree Trimmer
Kurt Loder	...	TV Voiceover (voice)
Michael Azerrad	...	TV Voiceover (voice)
Chris Monlux	...	Phone Voice (voice)
Jack Gibson	...	Phone Voice (voice)
Gus Van Sant	...	Phone Voice (voice)
Dawnn Pavlonnis	...	Phone Voice (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tyler Fenio	...	Himself (uncredited)
Riley G. Matthews Jr.	...	Coroner's Attendant (uncredited)
Giovanni Morassutti	...	Band Fun (uncredited)
Ari Tomais	...	Detective (uncredited)

Directed by
Gus Van Sant

Writing credits (WGA)
Gus Van Sant		(written by)

Produced by
Jay Hernandez	....	associate producer
Dany Wolf	....	producer

Original Music by
Rodrigo Lopresti

Cinematography by
Harris Savides

Film Editing by
Gus Van Sant

Casting by
Mali Finn

Art Direction by
Tim Grimes

Set Decoration by
Sarah E. McMillan

Costume Design by
Michelle Matland

Makeup Department
Cassandra Saulter	....	makeup artist
Cassandra Saulter	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Greg Spence	....	post-production supervisor
Jen Wall	....	production supervisor
Dany Wolf	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jennifer Truelove	....	second assistant director
Dany Wolf	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Karen Cinorre	....	props
Leslie Salter	....	lead scenic (as Leslie Salter-Yacuk)
Greg Sullivan	....	scenic

Sound Department
Felix Andrew	....	sound mixer
Matt Dubin	....	mixing recordist
Marshall Garlington	....	sound re-recording mixer
Shawn Kennelly	....	foley mixer
Laura Macias	....	foley artist
Vince Nicastro	....	foley artist
Neil Riha	....	second sound mixer
Leslie Shatz	....	sound designer
Lisa Varetakis	....	supervising foley editor

Visual Effects by
Mitch Paulson	....	digital preview colorist

Stunts
Riley G. Matthews Jr.	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Christopher Blauvelt	....	assistant camera (as Chris Blauvelt)
James P. Dolan	....	gaffer (as James Dolan)
John Flanagan	....	electrician
Scott Patrick Green	....	still photographer
Thomas Jirgal	....	best boy grip
Patrick Lowry	....	grip
Stephen MacDougall	....	camera loader
Jason McCormick	....	second assistant camera
Peter McEntyre	....	best boy electric
Matías Mesa	....	Steadicam operator

Casting Department
Sharon Blythe	....	casting assistant
Lori Eastside	....	additional casting
Jonathan Leeder	....	casting associate
David Rapaport	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ghilaine Bouadana	....	wardrobe production assistant
Amy Roth	....	costume supervisor
Jonathan Schwartz	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Bruce Bolden	....	colorist
John Dowdell	....	video colorist
Helen Hand	....	first assistant editor
Eric Hill	....	apprentice editor
Mato	....	color timer
Josh Olive	....	colorist: dailies
Beatrice Sisul	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ray Espinola Jr.	....	music coordinator
Thurston Moore	....	music consultant

Transportation Department
Kenny Gaskins	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Maxwell Anderson	....	production assistant
Kari A. Coleman	....	post-production office manager
Charlie Dibe	....	production assistant
Lindsay Feldman	....	assistant production office coordinator
Heather Gauntt	....	assistant location manager
Joe Guest	....	location manager
Randy Manion	....	location scout
Rachel Neave	....	story contributor
Ben Ruggiero	....	production assistant
Maurice Sessoms	....	additional production assistant
Beatrice Sisul	....	dailies
Michele Soddano	....	assistant accountant
Amy Teitter	....	production assistant
Rebecca Thornell	....	clearance
Derek Yip	....	post-production accountant
Derek Yip	....	production accountant

Thanks
Francesco Clemente	....	special thanks
Kurt Cobain	....	dedicatee
Roger D. Faires	....	special thanks
Kurt Loder	....	special thanks
Chip Marks	....	special thanks
Ann Roth	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• HBO Films
• Meno Film Company
• Picturehouse Entertainment
• Pie Films Inc.

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alamode Film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• BIM Distribuzione (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Fine Line Features (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2005-2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Vértigo Films (2005) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Newco
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Illusion Arts (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Elizabeth Bardsley & Associates  script annotation

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Runtime:

97 min | Argentina:97 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Nova Scotia) | Argentina:16 | Germany:12 | Finland:K-7 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:M18 | Brazil:12

Filming Locations:

Garrison, New York, USA

Company:

HBO Films

Trivia:

Seven years before production, 14-year-old Holger Thaarup of Denmark was originally cast as the lead, Blake. He didn't speak any English and Gus Van Sant intended the role to be silent; Van Sant then met 17-year-old Michael Pitt and cast him instead.

Goofs:

Factual errors: One of the LDS missionaries that visits the house is wearing a light blue shirt. LDS missionaries are only permitted to wear non-decorative white shirts with dark pants/suits, and a conservative tie. The missionaries also carried no pamphlets, visual aids, appointment books, or their own complete sets of scriptures, which is highly unlikely for door-to-door proselytizing.

Quotes:

Blake:I lost something on the way to wherever I am today.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Brows Held High: Gerry (#1.5)" (2011)

Soundtrack:

Death to Birth

Pretentious and hollow

Even though I really like some of Gus Van Sant's older movies (DRUGSTORE COWBOY, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO,...) and I do appreciate the fact that he dares to do something different (in terms of stepping away even further from mainstream cinema) with his more recent work, he more or less lost me with LAST DAYS. I think with this movie, we see a director who's trying just a little bit too hard to be eccentric. I've read some comments of people who liked it a lot and went on and on about the deeper meaning of things. I've read things about this movie being an accurate and truly sad & touching portrayal of the decay of a musical genius. And some people clearly praise this movie because they're fans of Gus Van Sant, completely ignoring the movie's flaws. Well, that's all fine by me, but that's not the way I saw the movie.

When I call LAST DAYS hollow, I'm not saying it's insincere. Not at all, because it really feels like a sincere portrait of a musician bordering on the edge of sanity (and I'm not using the term musical genius, because at not one moment in the movie we get prove that he really is one, we just have to assume it, because he supposedly has a big upcoming tour to go on and a fellow musician asks his opinion on a song he wrote... but hey, that's fine by me). When I say LAST DAYS is hollow, I mean that it's an empty vessel with no contents. When people start saying that it's about being unable to communicate with each other or that it's about friends draining you emotionally or blah blah blah... I just can't help laughing that away. Because not one single person in the movie actually does something. They all just hang around, sleeping, doing nothing, occasionally listening to music... (well okay, Blake has two moments where you can see him making music and singing a song, those were two solid one-shot sequences and I enjoyed them a lot). But apart from that, nothing happens.

And what about Michael Pitt deserving an Oscar for his role as Blake? You got to be kiddin' me! You can see him wearing a dress. You can see him fooling around with a gun. You can see him stumbling around in the house and through the forest. And you can see him eat something in the kitchen. That's it. And what's worse, he always mumbles the few lines he has in a way that it's almost incomprehensible. But I guess that's what you get when you're a burned out junkie. Assuming Blake IS a junkie, that is. Because we never get any evidence or hints as to why he's losing his mind. Everybody thinks: oh, he's into rock'n'roll, so it must be drugs. Has it ever occurred to anyone that, besides being severely anti-social, he might also be suffering from a psychological affection? Like insomnia or autism or whatever? Once again Gus Van Sant doesn't feel the need to enlighten us with more information. No info, no plot... sounds more like a registration than a movie, doesn't it? And then, after the 'movie' is over and we have absolutely learned nothing about our protagonist, Gus Van Sant has the pretension to show us some written text explaining that this movie is based on the last days of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. I mean, if he had the rights to use Kurt's name in the end credits, then surely he could have build some more references to his real life in the plot, no? It just feels pretentious and above all, a smart move to draw public attention to the movie. Because, way before the movie came out, everybody already knew that it supposedly was about the final days of Kurt Cobain. Seriously, if that little text would not have been there at the end of the film, and this movie was just about some unknown musician, I would have considered this to be a much better movie and would certainly have enjoyed it more. It simply would have worked much better for me that way, and I would have rated the movie much higher because of it.

However... I must say this: The cinematography is absolutely beautiful. And the camera-moves and angles are subtle, nicely framed and to the point. In fact, I believe that if you, at any given moment, would take a still of any frame in the movie, you would always have a perfect photograph. One of my favorite shots was when the camera slowly pulls back from the window when we see Blake playing various instruments inside the house. It must have lasted at least 5 minutes or so. Pretty brilliant. Another good thing was that the movie had a consequent unworldly feel to it. And it was also fun seeing Van Sant doing his ELEPHANT-trick again: Showing the same scene from a different point of view later in the movie. Sadly, these were the only things that kept me going through the movie.

So even if I think LAST DAYS was pretty bad for the reasons mentioned above, I'm gonna be extremely mild in my final judgement. I'll add one point for every aspect I liked: The cinematography. Asia Argento running around in her underwear. Kim Gordon was in it. The little music that was in it, was good (Thurston Moore was involved with the music). So there you have it: 4 out of 10 stars.