Gus Van Sant’s last three films—Gerry,
Elephant, and Last Days—were, shall we say,
“demanding” works. (Several people I know use other terminology.) All
of them patiently defied the quick-cut edits and poppy dialogue of
contemporary cinema, but while they’re widely regarded by many critics
(myself included) as Van Sant’s best films, it’s rare to meet anybody
who enthusiastically gushes over these glacially paced meditations. The
trailers for Paranoid Park, on the other hand, make his latest
look like a fairly conventional art-house murder flick—and
compared to the ambient shuffle of Gerry, I guess it is. But
Paranoid Park‘s still a Van Sant joint, and the director’s
proclivity for long, artful shots, naturalistic action, and
dialogue-free sequences is firmly intact. Where most films are filled
with characters who take turns saying things that only advance the
narrative, Van Sant is more interested in emotional tonality and the
full-disclosure voyeurism of uninterrupted, wordless scenes.
Paranoid Park is pure Portland, and the city has never looked
more appealing or authentic on film. Sure, hometown glimpses may be
cheesy points of pride for rubes, but hearing the songs of Menomena and
Cool Nutz, catching regular spots like Half & Half and the Lloyd
Center Ice Rink, and seeing KOIN news anchor Ken Boddie read fictional
news with all the right street names and graphics is undeniably
fun.
Gabe Nevins plays Alex, an introverted, middle-class skater who gets
caught up in the murder of a train yard security guard. The film
hypnotically follows Alex as he attempts to go on with life as if
nothing ever happened, and we see him, at moments, almost succeed.
Sleepwalking through classes, romances, and even police questioning,
Alex mentally and spiritually detaches from his everyday existence,
just as Van Sant’s characters have done in films from My Own Private
Idaho to Last Days.
Christopher Doyle and Kathy Li’s cinematography here is stunning,
and the languid direction works with the film’s naturalistic
performances to strike a pretty perfect balance between Van Sant’s
polar levels of accessibility. Paranoid Park is more demanding
than almost any movie that will be released this year, but it’s also
more rewarding, and has since lingered in my head like a haze, long
after I’ve left the theater.