Rare is the "reality show" that actually encompasses the rawness of life - the actual mundane, repetitive, boring events that litter our days.
Even rarer is a director that is able to direct the movie of his or her own creative vision.
Director Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester) in a sense managed to pull off both. The result is the experimental flic Gerry, which not only changes the common perception of filmed reality, but also dismisses the oftentimes restricting tactics of conventional cinematic storytelling. The outcome is a film so unorthodox that it is easily one of the most innovative of the last decade.
No narration, no systematic plot - Van Sant uses the camera to spy upon the lives and minds of two men who go on a day hike, only to get helplessly lost in Death Valley. The dialogue is improvised providing mostly inside jokes and clipped stories. The shots muddled and blurred. Extended scenes are devoid of dialogue, focusing only upon their gyrating faces and mindless walking. No story, background or explanation exists. We never know why they went hiking or where they're even going.
Framed within the endless, drab skyline of the southwestern plateau and the expansive violent clouds is a world that devours people with its repetitive, featureless nature. Among this gritty picture lies the allegory of our very lives. This is the story of losing one's way in life, and the desperate search for a "path."
However, within the drawn-out shots and countless framing panoramas, the experimental nature of the film requires a steady patience that isn't easy to ask of most viewers. Do not see Gerry for fulfillment. See it to peer into the soul of reality, unhindered by the limits of storytelling. See it to glimpse into something deeper, something greater within our own confused, unsatisfied lives.
- Ditty
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