Review of My Own Private Idaho (1991) by Grant P — 19 Sep 2008

My Own Private Idaho is a seminal indie flick -- a progression of quirky characters, dialogue and images.

Mike and Scott are struggling nomadic hustlers in search of the meaning of life, or at least a meaning. Mike, plagued by narcoleptic seizures is the more troubled but sympathetic primarily because he's introduced first.

Director van Sant uses both Mike and Scott as boundary lines between classes of people in America. At one point they convene, but eventually they turn into polar opposites. Toward the conclusion of the film, two funerals simultaneously occur. One is rather conventional while the other resembles a weird, unusual celebration. Additionally, this scene's importance suggests the nature of My Own Private Idaho as a film, in one sense conventional with strong experimental leanings.

Scenic landscapes of each of the cities are also quite identifying, not that it's difficult to capture the specifics, but it is to weave them together in a meaningful manner. Two shots at the beginning and end of the film are particularly penetrating; they suggest Mike's journey: salmon swimming upstream and the clouds hastily moving (time advancing).

Scott's character is influenced heavily by Prince Hal in Shakespeare's Henry IV. This influence extends beyond his character, though, to the absurdest dialogue between him and the homeless Bob Pigeon. It is one of the most disconcerting elements of the film, and for that reason alone it makes recommending My Own Private Idaho difficult... but certainly an original tale.