Last Days

Blake is lonely in his private life and on stage as well: crowds of fans and his many ‘friends,’ most of whom are only after money or the possibility of capitalizing on his success, are not helping him cope with his feelings of isolation and the difficulties of communication. During the hours which end up being the last of his life, Blake wants to be alone — to figure out who or what has made any sense in his life. Gus Van Sant’s Last Days is a brilliant cinematic contemplation of a talented, albeit eccentric musician who in his last days experiences the intensity of everything that went into creating or transforming his existence, both private and professional. Despite the fact that the filmmaker was inspired by singer Kurt Cobain, his narrative goes beyond the descriptionof a concrete individual to become a provocative statement of a talented individual’s relationship to his own life, to a role which was forced upon him, and to the freedom to do as he likes. (source: Catalogue 40th Karlovy Vary IFF)