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Gerry and Gerry set out on a hike. They lose the trail. They get lost in the desert. This is the plot of "Gerry," the ninth feature film by Gus Van Sant, a filmmaker from Kentucky.
After two Hollywood films like "Will Hunting" and "Finding Forrester", Van Sant returns to a phase of experimentalism, reconnecting to the beginnings of his career ("Mala Noche," 1985). It will be the beginning of the so-called "death trilogy," where the element of the end of existence will also unite the next two films.
We are faced with Van Sant's probably most intimate, experimental, and expressionist work. It is impossible to judge such a film using the classic coordinates: plot, screenplay, rhythm, level of involvement. Erase everything and think of cinema as an expressive means through which to reconstruct reality. He does this by taking inspiration from a European director like Béla Tarr, Hungarian, who according to Van Sant himself, was one of the major authors he looked to for the "experimental" turn of 2002-2007.
"Gerry" is a triumph of editing within the shots, therefore of long takes where Van Sant follows step by step the two protagonists in their endless crossings in a hostile nature, the "void" of post-9/11 America. Extended rhythms, naturalistic and minimal sound. Long sequences where absolutely nothing happens. These are the technical characteristics of a film where Van Sant adopts a perfect yet "invisible" direction. But it is above all a film scattered with symbolism: let us remember that the United States had just been shaken by an attack from an "external enemy," and the fall of the Twin Towers was one of the events that most influenced American cinema in the last ten years. It is no coincidence that the two protagonists (played by Casey Affleck and Matt Damon) have the same name, representing the loss of identity of a nation. But at the same time, they also represent the same "twin towers": an initial sequence places them opposite on two heights, just as the Beckettian situation of the boulder, with Affleck being forced to throw himself, to "collapse" to the ground. Another clear reference to those events: the long sequence where the scene is dominated by the close-up of the two, with the footsteps resounding like a military march, an assonance with the sudden mobilization of the American army that shortly after 9/11 will find itself fighting in Afghanistan (and in this case a parallel with "Werckmeister Harmonies" by Tarr, 2000). A further reference is perceptible in the story of the goddess Demeter evoked by Affleck, who sweeps away her Thebes, perhaps in an allusion to a video game, but the thing, like many others, will never be explained. Again, however, the fall of a civilization returns, and it is no coincidence that "two sanctuaries" will be destroyed. Once again, a very clear reference.
A work with a strong authorship, not pretending to explain what is staged but leaving the viewer the possibility to build their reality. Also in this sense, one might wonder if the two Gerry are actually the same person and if in this sense the ending does not have a more rational explanation...
"Gerry" is a film that requires patience, which is outside the normal schemes of a "canonical film." Silences predominate (screenplay written by Van Sant and the two actors), endless long takes, circular shots. There is a prolixity in some passages in the second part of the film. But we are faced with a work that absolutely deserves to be seen. And of course, it never arrived in Italy, neither in theaters nor for home video.
"When they attacked me, I ordered my army to defend the city, but to do that twelve draft horses were needed. But there were only eleven, I was missing one horse..."
After two Hollywood films like "Will Hunting" and "Finding Forrester", Van Sant returns to a phase of experimentalism, reconnecting to the beginnings of his career ("Mala Noche," 1985). It will be the beginning of the so-called "death trilogy," where the element of the end of existence will also unite the next two films.
We are faced with Van Sant's probably most intimate, experimental, and expressionist work. It is impossible to judge such a film using the classic coordinates: plot, screenplay, rhythm, level of involvement. Erase everything and think of cinema as an expressive means through which to reconstruct reality. He does this by taking inspiration from a European director like Béla Tarr, Hungarian, who according to Van Sant himself, was one of the major authors he looked to for the "experimental" turn of 2002-2007.
"Gerry" is a triumph of editing within the shots, therefore of long takes where Van Sant follows step by step the two protagonists in their endless crossings in a hostile nature, the "void" of post-9/11 America. Extended rhythms, naturalistic and minimal sound. Long sequences where absolutely nothing happens. These are the technical characteristics of a film where Van Sant adopts a perfect yet "invisible" direction. But it is above all a film scattered with symbolism: let us remember that the United States had just been shaken by an attack from an "external enemy," and the fall of the Twin Towers was one of the events that most influenced American cinema in the last ten years. It is no coincidence that the two protagonists (played by Casey Affleck and Matt Damon) have the same name, representing the loss of identity of a nation. But at the same time, they also represent the same "twin towers": an initial sequence places them opposite on two heights, just as the Beckettian situation of the boulder, with Affleck being forced to throw himself, to "collapse" to the ground. Another clear reference to those events: the long sequence where the scene is dominated by the close-up of the two, with the footsteps resounding like a military march, an assonance with the sudden mobilization of the American army that shortly after 9/11 will find itself fighting in Afghanistan (and in this case a parallel with "Werckmeister Harmonies" by Tarr, 2000). A further reference is perceptible in the story of the goddess Demeter evoked by Affleck, who sweeps away her Thebes, perhaps in an allusion to a video game, but the thing, like many others, will never be explained. Again, however, the fall of a civilization returns, and it is no coincidence that "two sanctuaries" will be destroyed. Once again, a very clear reference.
A work with a strong authorship, not pretending to explain what is staged but leaving the viewer the possibility to build their reality. Also in this sense, one might wonder if the two Gerry are actually the same person and if in this sense the ending does not have a more rational explanation...
"Gerry" is a film that requires patience, which is outside the normal schemes of a "canonical film." Silences predominate (screenplay written by Van Sant and the two actors), endless long takes, circular shots. There is a prolixity in some passages in the second part of the film. But we are faced with a work that absolutely deserves to be seen. And of course, it never arrived in Italy, neither in theaters nor for home video.
"When they attacked me, I ordered my army to defend the city, but to do that twelve draft horses were needed. But there were only eleven, I was missing one horse..."
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Other reviews
By Stoopid
"Gerry is a cruel film, reckless, not at all entertaining."
"There are those two in there, but soon it’s you and me... Could it be a rare case of empathy?"
