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My Own Private Idaho - Criterion Collection
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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781559409575
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 1559409576
Label: Criterion
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Italian (Original Language),
Manufacturer: Criterion
MPN: DCC1609D
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 01, 2005
Running Time: 104 minutes
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: September 29, 1991
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Editorial Review:
Mapping the spaces between fortune and degeneracy, Shakespeare and street cant, Europe and the Pacific Northwest, and gay and straight, My Own Private Idaho is the 1991 masterpiece by director Gus Van Sant. River Phoenix gave the most generous and memory-searing performance of his tragically shortened career as Mike Waters, a narcoleptic street hustler in search of his mother. His best friend, Scott, played by Keanu Reeves, is a son of privilege who fosters plans of rejoining the moneyed world of his father after gallivanting with assorted urchins and ne'er-do-wells. The beautifully symmetrical story that emerges between the two is one of friendship, yearning for lost time, and sexual identity conveyed with a poet's eye for landscape. The camera lingers on abandoned houses in golden fields and time-lapse clouds, providing what T.S. Eliot called "the objective correlative"--external representations of interior emotional states. We're treated to striking iconic sequences like a barn falling from the sky and still-life scenes of carnal entanglement. The supporting cast is a rogues' gallery that includes Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Udo Kier, director William Richert, and a variety of "nonactors" pulled literally off the street to provide documentary veracity to a film that gleefully careens into riffs on Henry IV. It's beautiful.
What's also beautiful is the Criterion Collection's treatment of the film's DVD debut. The director-approved transfer successfully conveys the warmth of the film's palette of oranges and browns, and preserves the whimsical atmospherics of the yodeling country music soundtrack. Many members of the original crew contribute their fond memories to the documentary features, which include a conversation between Phoenix's sister Rain and producer Laurie Parker. There are also two lengthy audio-only conversations--one between Van Sant and Velvet Goldmine director Todd Haynes, and another between author J.T. Leroy and filmmaker Jonathan Caouette about their experiences on the street. The deleted scenes mostly suggest alternate endings that Van Sant wisely left on the cutting room floor. A superb example of a beloved film on DVD. --Ryan Boudinot
Stills from My Own Private Idaho (click for larger image)
The Cast |
River Phoenix |
Keanu Reeves |
Keanu and River |
Udo Kier |
Gus Van Sant |
River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves star in director Gus Van Sant's haunting tale of two young street hustlers: Mike Waters, a sensitive narcoleptic who dreams of the mother who abandoned him, and Scott Favor, wayward son of the mayor of Portland and the object of Mike's desire. Navigating a volatile world of junkies, thieves, and johns, Mike takes Scott on a quest from the grungy streets to the open highways of the Pacific Northwest, in search of an elusive place called "home." Groundbreaking and visually dazzling, My Own Private Idaho is a stirring look at unrequited love and life at society's margins.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Keanu and River's Excellent Adventure
I used to be a film critic for KALX in Berkeley, and I interviewed Gus Van Sant for his movie, Mala Noche. It was a low budget black and white art film based on a semi-autobiographical novel by a writer who was kind of obsessed with young Mexican immigrants. In the interview he told me that the writer visited the set but he made the cast nervous. With edgy material like that, I never expected Gus to break through to the main stream, but Drug Store Cowboy did pretty well, and then he got a chance ... Read More
Rating:  - Discovering America - One State at a Time
What a stunning film.
Lush greenery and slow drives across rural America collide with the gritty slime and sensuality of the big city in this epic film that propelled both Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix to cinematic glory. While other reviewers might concentrate on the story, I wanted to point out just how *gorgeous* this film looks on any format. The director had an eye for the environment, to be sure, and his overhead shots (especially the poignant climax) should be lessons in film ... Read More
Rating: - What a man we missed... There will never be another River Phoenix
River Phoenix was the best actor of his generation, even though he had barely gotten started on what should have been an astounding career. Perhaps he was too good; he was scary.
I saw this picture and cried for days. Even now, years later, I hesitate to see it again. Too real; too sad. The condition and fate of the homeless orphan is overwhelming. The cruelty of the world to the weakest among us cannot be forgotten.
Rating: - I MAY BE NOSTALGIC...
I saw this film when it was first released in 1991. I was a teenager at the time, and for that reason, it really touched a sensitive nerve. Now, unlike many films or books that basically trigger a sensitive response in the viewer, what really surprised me about "My Own Private Idaho" was that it wasn't just that: it was also a cerebral movie. So, MOPI might have been the first time that, as a teenager, I felt at the same time cherished and respected as a viewer.
Although fans had to wait a ... Read More
Rating: - Gus van Sant is a Genius van Sant
Gus is a Genius. When I see this movie I think in the moment he have shoot the sequences. I think he know move the camera and he know to direct the actors. I hope Gus never dies, he is a genius
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