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

2 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:

kurt cobain | musician | drug addict | depression | singer | 

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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, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$454,711, 28 August 2005

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

While the character of Blake is a thinly-veiled analogue of Kurt Cobain, both director Gus Van Sant and actress Asia Argento deny that her character is based on Courtney Love, Cobain's widow. Van Sant and Love are friends in real life, and he expressly avoided any reference to Love in the film, as he considers Cobain's suicide too painful a matter to confront for Love and the rest of Cobain's family to base a film around. Argento also cites the frequent demonization of Love by Cobain's fans as a reason to leave her character out of the film, as the widow has already suffered too much criticism surrounding the death of her husband.

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Goofs

Throughout the film Blake plays guitar both left handed and right handed. (Kurt Cobain - on whom Blake is reportedly based - played left handed.)

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Quotes

Record Executive: Have you uh, talked to your daughter? Hmm.
Blake: Hmm. Yeah I've been talking to her on the phone.
Record Executive: What do you say to her?
Blake: Hmm-mm. I do the voices she likes. I don't know. I tell her I miss her.

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Connections

References Walker, Texas Ranger (1993)

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Soundtracks

Seen as None
Written by Rodrigo Lopresti
Performed by Rodrigo Lopresti (as The Hermitt)

User Reviews

Blake or bleak?

Last days This is the final instalment of Gus van sant's trilogy of the disenfranchised and the alienated human condition. It began with 'Gerry' dealing with two guys trapped in a desert with no way of finding civilisation again and continued with 'elephant' dealing loosely with the columbine school killings. Last days is loosely based on the life of Kurt Cobain the late nirvana singer. Last days is really gelephant a mix of the first two films. Similar themes like repetition and the same story told from different characters perspectives are lifted straight out of elephant and the endless, hopeless tracking shots of despair are taken out of Gerry. Here the main character Blake is lost, unlike the two central characters in Gerry who are lost in the desert without hope, Blake is lost in his own head seemingly without hope. We meet Blake in the title of the film, his last days, being destroyed by drugs (although we never see him take anything harder than a cigarette) and emotional vampires who pretend to be his friends sucking the life out of him coupled with the pressure of fame and impending 86 date tours, Blake is quite simply falling apart. Here though it is a beautifully subtle take on madness, gone are the visions you see in films like 'Jacobs ladder' replaced with a clever underscore of sounds of doors opening and closing and mutterings and oddities. It's as if as you travel round with Blake you too can here the doors of insanity opening in his head, you too struggle to make out all the sounds. It's gently handled but eerily effective in linking you in with Blake's mindset. Elsewhere he stumbles and crawls round trying to function in the face of increasing paranoia and his drug addled inability to perform even the simplest of tasks. With record executives, band members, his manager and a private investigator all on his trail doing little for his state of mind Blake only seems comfortable when making music. This is also the only thing he can do with any sense of achievement, this could be down to the fact that it is second nature or the fact that he is a musical genius. The film also has an amazing sense of space, the landscapes around the mansion, the emptiness of its rooms and the vacuous nature of the hangers on to Blake's coat tails. With some amazing scenes, look out for the Venus in furs scene and the amazingly shot and framed acoustic song performed by Blake in the studio with probably one of the best little pieces of improvisation I've ever seen, this is a brilliant and touching portrayal of a great man left to fall to pieces by those who should have helped him stay together. Although different in its approach it deals with madness in a way not seen since Polanski's 'repulsion' and ultimately it is a film that stays with you long after the final chilling shot.