Paranoid Park Premiere
October 9, 2007
Though having played the international circuit since its premiere at Cannes in May, Gus van Sant’s latest film, Paranoid Park, had its American premiere last night, Monday, Oct. 8, at the New York Film Festival, though it won’t be in a theater near you (and only if you live in a big city!) until March 7, 2008.
So far the film, an intensely subjective view of a Portland skater’s possible involvement in a murder, has generally received positive press. Scott Tobias, at the AV Club, saw the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and remarked, “It’s a film I can’t wait to get lost in again.” However, Gus van Sant can be an acquired taste; as Todd McCarthy of Variety writes of the film, “this is a rarified, arid artwork that will register with Van Sant’s hardcore fans but leave anyone looking for more conventional satisfactions, notably teenagers themselves, impatient and unfulfilled.”
van Sant appeared after the screening for a brief Q&A, in which he discussed various aspects of the film. For instance, the movie was cast with unprofessionals through an open casting call, which included a MySpace posting.
A full summation of the discussion appears on my blog.
