Last Days (2005)

A Seattle musician's life and career are reminiscent to those of Kurt Cobain.

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Writer:

Gus Van Sant

Stars:

Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, Asia Argento

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

Introspective artist Blake is buckling under the weight of fame, professional obligations and a mounting feeling of isolation. Dwarfed by towering trees, Blake slowly makes his way through dense woods. He scrambles down an embankment to a fresh spring and undresses for a short swim. The next morning he returns to his house, an elegant, if neglected, stone mansion. Many people are looking for Blake--his friends, his managers and record label, even a private detective--but he does not want to be found. In the haze of his final hours, Blake will spend most his time by himself. He avoids the people who are living in his house, who approach him only when they want something, be it money or help with a song. He hides from one concerned friend and turns away another. He visits politely with a stranger from the Yellow Pages sales department, and he ducks into an underground rock club. He wanders through the woods and he plays a new song, one last rock and roll blowout. Finally, alone in the ...

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Plot Keywords:

nirvana the band | kurt cobain | musician | drug addict | depression | 

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Taglines:

Rock and roll will never die.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Last Days - Últimos Dias

Filming Locations:

Garrison, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$86,556, 24 July 2005

Gross USA:

$463,080

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,456,454

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Films, Meno Film Company, Picturehouse

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gus Van Sant had originally intended to make a direct bio-pic of Kurt Cobain in the mid-1990's but ran into legal obstruction from Cobain's widow, Courtney Love. Undeterred, Van Sant met with Love to discuss some ideas for the film, as well as her possible involvement. Though the two actually became friends and discussed the film for years, Van Sant eventually realized that Love was too devastated by Cobain's death to ever collaborate on the film or even allow a bio-pic to ever be made and adapted his ideas into this fictionalized story.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Blake: You know, it's kinda like... Success is subjective, you know. It could be an opinion.

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Connections

Follows Gerry (2002)

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Soundtracks

Fetus
Written by Michael Pitt

User Reviews

In Utero

"Last Days", Gus Van Sant's experimental film loosely inspired by Kurt Cobain's, err, last days, is not one of his best, but it's certainly not the worst (the "Psycho" remake, anyone?). Even though it's not half as poignant as the previous "Elephant", which has similar style, I admire Van Sant for daring to make such a personal, non-commercial film. "Last Days" is slow, hard to watch, "boring" as some people say, but that suits a brave attempt to show some moments of a troubled musician, "Blake" (Michael Pitt, from the wonderful "The Dreamers"), who seems completely lost and away from reality, trying to escape from himself in his house, surrounded by "friends" who are only interested in his money. Nothing "happens", like everybody says, throughout the film, and Van Sant partially succeeds in showing us the big empty inside and around Blake with bitter, raw strength. Pitt's performance is low-key at most, and Ricky Jay ("Magnolia") and Lukas Haas ("Witness"), two criminally underrated actors, don't disappoint in their small roles. We can't say anyone in the cast stands out, though, because this is a movie where the scenery (the house, the forest) is the biggest character, eating Blake up.

"Last Days" didn't engage me enough to make me want to re-watch it, but I didn't regret watching it. Far from being a masterpiece, but worth seeing if you're looking for a different option and are interested in the main subject, of course. This is not a movie for a Kelly Clarkson or Lindsay Lohan fan, but please don't say this is the biggest piece of pretentious crap out there - I'm pretty sure Björk|Matthew Barney's "Drawing Restraint 9" is a lot worse.