Even Cowgirls Get the Blues & My Own Private Idaho

by Gus Van Sant

Adapted from Tom Robbins' cult novel, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues is a rambunctious epic of cowgirls, FBI agents and ecstatic whooping cranes. My Own Private Idaho charts the pilgrimage of a narcoleptic hustler who is searching for his long-lost mother in a world absent of love.

Genres: Fiction

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Gus Van Sant is an American filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist whose work has long explored the edges of American life, with a particular sensitivity to characters who exist outside the cultural mainstream. His career began with television commercials in the Pacific Northwest, but his creative focus quickly shifted toward personal, formally inventive films that examined marginalized communities, especially within gay culture. His debut feature Mala Noche established many of the themes that would return throughout his work, including unfulfilled longing, a dry sense of humor, and an insistence on portraying same-sex relationships without moralizing. He followed it with a string of acclaimed independent films, most notably Drugstore Cowboy, a raw portrait of addiction, and My Own Private Idaho, a poetic story of drifting young men that became one of the touchstone films of early 1990s American independent cinema. To Die For revealed his talent for sharp, satirical storytelling, while Good Will Hunting brought him into the mainstream, earning broad critical praise and multiple Academy Award nominations. Van Sant's career has remained restlessly varied. He experimented with form in Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days, a trio of films known for their long takes and meditative rhythms. Elephant, inspired by the Columbine High School attack, won both the Palme d'Or and the Best Director Award at Cannes, drawing international attention to his unique blend of realism and abstraction. His work has ranged from major studio productions such as Finding Forrester to bold misfires like his shot for shot remake of Psycho, and he has continued to move between intimate character studies, biographical dramas, and genre defying experiments. Milk, his portrait of San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, earned eight Academy Award nominations and remains one of his most widely acclaimed films. Beyond directing, Van Sant has written screenplays, published fiction and photography, released music, and worked extensively in television, contributing to series such as Boss, When We Rise, and Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. His artistic interests extend across media, but his filmmaking is united by a fascination with outsiders, a lyrical visual style, and a willingness to take creative risks. Throughout decades of shifting critical and commercial fortunes, Van Sant has remained one of the most distinctive voices in American cinema.

Reviews

[Katie O’Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intro interview: awesome. I adore when people speak so passionately about their work and specifically what influenced it

Cowgirls: sooooooo fun so silly!!

Idaho: I cried. And cried again. Beautiful and poignant

[Steve Shilstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Screenplays are interesting, but flat. They need the actors to take life.

[Moana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Merged review:

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed the first time, film was a dud as was the KD Lang sound