and Elephant, but probably the weakest one of the three. Still there is a lot of things to like. The problem though is that like Gerry the movie more feeds from narrativity than a real chronological story. There are a lot of shots of Blake, the film's main character, walking zombie like to the woods, mumbling words that are almost unrecognizable. There seems to be more chronologicallity than in Gerry though, but still lots of the movie is open to interpretation. Showing its characters from a distance, the camera hardly moves. The only movement comes from zooms and pans. Only sometimes does the camera move through its surroundings, but most of the time it's placed in one spot being completely static. It creates a distanciation towards the characters on screen making the camera and the viewers observers and almost voyeurs with the camera often filming from behind branches of trees. Where most films and especially television draw heavily on close-ups in order for the viewers to feel totally connected and interact with the characters on screen, Last Days uses almost none. And when characters are shown close to the camera it's mostly them who walk towards the camera instead of the other way round. The acting therefore stays minimal. Dialogue is made up out of random conversation material. There's a sort of coolness that tries to depict the rockstar's attitude and way of life. Michael Pitt who plays Blake, doesn't get the chance to really show his acting skills. All he seems to do is wander around. Only towards the end he kind of open ups, but it's still to small to call his performance one of real acting. Van Sant tries hard to create a certain kind of atmosphere, in which he partly succeeds. Though as a viewer you sometimes feel lost like Blake, searching for things to cling on to. It's no wonder that the most strongest and haunting scene in the movie is an acoustic performance of the song Death To Birth, originally recorded by Pagoda, actor Michael pitt's own band of which he is the lead singer. It's a great track that fits wonderfully in the movie which sometimes seems to be more of an documentary about music than a real film.What is it about?
Wandering through the woods, being just a shadow amongst the big green trees, Blake a fallen rockstar, mumbles his way through, having lost complete touch with reality, or so at least, it seems. Characters seem to drift around without any purpose. It's a dreamlike state they're in. They live in a big luxurious mansion, spending their days listening to music and
lying on their beds, skimpy clothed. His friends try to get through Blake, but he doesn't seem to want to make contact. While life goes on, Blake's life is moving towards its end, calmly reaching its final. Too lost in his own thoughts and mind it seems noone can save this man who seems to burst with talent that deeply lies in the covers of his outer appearance.Final Verdict: ***1/2
Last Days isn't a bad film. Even though it's difficult to truly connect, it still has some beautiful moments. This immediately also is one of its weaknesses. Last Days feels more like a string of wonderfully crafted beauty shots than a real film with content. It makes you think, but not as much as with Elephant and Gerry. The film says to be based on Kurt Cobain's last days, but the characters and events are said to be works of fiction. Though at the end there's the message that says, 'in memory of Kurt Cobain'. The film therefore kind of contradicts itself, apparently having trouble of what it truly wants to be. It doesn't want to be critiqued and therefore tells it's just based on events and doesn't tell the true story. But it seems that the movie only states this to avoid collission with fans who can feel hurt by the film's depiction. But even when it does show Cobain's last days it does so very kindly. It's more of a character observation and nowhere near a biopic. It feels more as a tribute to a great musician and the mindstate he found himself in. The scene where Pitt performs the acoustic song, really shows the paradoxical character of Blake's or in this sense, Cobain's persona. Behind all the mumbling and wandering around still hides
a gifted musician that had lots of talent and potential. It's a sad portrait of a man who has come to be such a celebrated person. The life of Blake closes with a scene that is very different and which doesn't seem to really fit in. It's one of those moment of which you're not sure what to think, but that just happens in front of your eyes, while you let it be. Overall Last Days is a nice cinematic piece that is more visually interesting than narratively. There's too much distance to the characters, especially Blake. As a viewer you never come to feel for him and don't know what he's like or what it is he wants. Part of this is a good choice as the movie wants to present this image to the viewer. But it's just too long for a film to hold onto an image like that, while nothing really happens. Van Sant is great in putting the right colours together and carefully chooses his angles to present the right images. It makes him a very gifted director with great vision. When we watch Blake walk around with this big jacket during the night time it provides for stunning images. The lighting at times is amazing. But with Last Days it simply isn't enough. Van Sant easily knows how to creep into the insides of the minds of his characters and his audience, but in Last Days it just doesn't work out completely, which is too bad, because Last Days could have been much more than it is right now.
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