Happy 68th Birthday, Gus Van Sant! Born today in 1952 as Gus Green Van Sant Jr., this American painter, author, photographer, musician, screenwriter and film director has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker.
His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures, in particular homosexuality; as a result, Van Sant is considered one of the most prominent auteurs of the New Queen Cinema movement.
Van Sant's early career was devoted to directing television commercials in the Pacific Northwest.
In the mid-1980s, he made his feature-length cinematic directorial debut. This was the 1986 American black and white/color drama/LGBT film 'Male Noche' (also known as 'Bad Night').
His second feature was the first film of which he is best-known for co-writing and directing. This was the 1989 American drama/crime film 'Drugstore Cowboy'.
At the time the film was made, the source autobiographical novel by American author James Fogle was unpublished. It was later published in 1990, by which time Fogle had been released from prison. Fogle, like the characters in his story, was a long-time drug user and dealer.
Upon release, 'Drugstore Cowboy' was highly acclaimed, and earned Van Sant screenwriting awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Circle and the award for Best Director from the National Society of Film Critics.
Two years later, Van Sant wrote and directed his third feature, and the second film of which he is best-known. This was the 1991 American independent adventure drama/romance film 'My Own Private Idaho'.
The feature is loosely based on William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V. The title is taken from a B-52's song.
The film is considered a landmark film in the New Queer Cinema movement; an early 1990s movement in queer-themed independent filmmaking.
Since its 1991 release, 'My Own Private Idaho' has grown in popularity and been deemed as a cult classic, especially among LGBT audiences. The film is notable for its then-taboo subject matter and avant-garde style.
Van Sant is also known for directing the 1997 American drama/romance film 'Good Will Hunting' and the 2008 American biographical drama/romance film 'Milk'.
For these two films, Van Sant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and both films received Best Picture nominations.
For the former film, this occurred at the 70th Academy Awards in late March 1998. For that latter film, this occurred at the 81st Academy Awards in late February 2009.
The following year after 'Good Will Hunting', Van Sant directed a shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 American black and white psychological horror/thriller film 'Psycho'. This was the titular 1998 American thriller/horror film.
Both films are adapted from American fiction writer Robert Bloch's 1959 mystery thriller suspense horror crime fiction novel of the same name.
Van Sant's 'Psycho' was both a critical and commercial failure. It received three Golden Raspberry nominations and won in the categories of Worst Remake and Worst Director. Anne Heche (Marion Crane) was nominated for Worst Actress. This occurred at the 19th Golden Raspberry Awards in late March 1999.
During the time in between making 'Good Will Hunting' and 'Milk', Van Sant wrote and directed the third and final film of which he is best known. This was the 2003 American drama/crime film 'Elephant'.
The film was the second installment in Van Sant's "Death Trilogy"—the first being the 2002 American drama/independent film 'Gerry' and the third installment being the 2005 American drama/music film 'Last Days'—all three of which are based on actual events.
'Elephant' was generally praised by critics and received the Palme d'Or at the 56th Cannes Film Festival in May 2003. The film was controversial for its subject matter and allegations of influence on the Red Lake shootings.
In addition to directing, a book of his 1992 photography, called 108 Portraits, has also been published. Van Sant has and he has released two musical albums.
He has also written the screenplays for several of his earlier works, and is the author of his 1997 dark comedy fantasy philosophical absurdist fiction novel Pink.
According to his personal life, Van Sant is openly gay and lives in Los Feliz, California.
Van Sant has been active from 1982–present.
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