Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

My Own Private Idaho Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 14, 2015

Winner of Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival, Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho" (1991) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; archival interview with film scholar Paul Arthur; deleted scenes; recorded conversation between directors Gus Van Sant and Todd Haynes; and a lot more. The release also arrives with a 60-page illustrated book featuring essays by critic Amy Taubin and writer JT LeRoy; a 1991 article by Lance Loud; and reprinted interviews with Gus Van Sant, River Phoenix, and Keanu Reeves. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"I could love someone even if I wasn't paid for it"

The late River Phoenix is Mike Waters, a handsome narcoleptic who lives his life one day at a time. He frequently visits Idaho because he feels that this is where he belongs, where his home is. But there is no one in the potato state that cares about him. He is alone and broke, a shadowy drifter without a past.

To make ends meet Mike works as a male prostitute in Portland, Oregon. There are other boys like him there and they gather in an abandoned hotel somewhere on the outskirts of the city. Sometimes they help each other and party together; sometimes they steal from each other and fight. Their leader (William Richert) is an older alcoholic and drug addict who looks like an odd character from a Shakespeare play.

In Portland, Mike has met Scott (Keanu Reeves), his one and only true friend. He also hustles, but does not do it to survive. He is a rebel who has rejected his wealthy father and chosen to live on the other side, amongst the prostitutes and drug addicts, where he feels alive.

When they are not seeing clients, the two friends talk about life and all the things that supposedly make it worth living. Mike dreams of finding his mother and is convinced that his life would have turned out differently if she hadn’t abandoned him years ago. Scott has bigger and much more ambitious dreams, but his family isn’t part of them.

When a hotel clerk recognizes Mike’s mother and tells him that she might have moved to Italy, the two friends vow to track her down and immediately head to Rome. Soon after, however, and much to Mike’s disappointment, their friendship is tested after Scott falls madly in love with a beautiful girl.

The majority of the film tiptoes along the fine line that separates dreams and reality. They frequently overlap and when they do it looks like time morphs into an odd liquid substance that quickly dissolves into thin air and makes it impossible to separate the real from the unreal.

The unusual time shifts affect only Mike. They come abruptly and he instantly loses his ability to stay awake. He recovers quickly, but rarely remembers his thoughts or the people he had connected with before the collapse. Nevertheless, he seems happier when he is detached from reality because in his dreams he meets his mother and temporarily forgets about the misery and pain he has had to endure in the real world.

The entire film is built around this elusive feeling of being needed and loved. In the real world, it is what routinely sends Mike on the road looking for someone to embrace and love him. If he finds his mother her love will restore balance in his life. But the same feeling is also the reason why he hustles -- the physical contact is like a temporary fix for him. It isn’t the real thing, it can never be the real thing, but it makes him feel needed and alive.

On the opposite end is Scott, a hustler by choice who does not need his father’s love. Everything about his love disgusts him. It is sterile and it comes from a place where people are constantly forced to wear masks. Scott has rejected it and embraced the simplicity and purity of street life. It is a tough and risky life, but for him it is the only one worth living.

Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho came out in the early ‘90s and it immediately separated itself from the rest of the films that were made at the time. Even now it is very easy to see why. It is uncharacteristically honest, but it does not attempt to deliver a profound message or push any buttons. All it hopes for is that those who see it will realize that regardless of how and why we marginalize each other we are all the same.

My Own Private Idaho Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented is its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the book provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Approved by director Gus Van Sant and director of photography Eric Alan Edwards, this new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the original camera negative at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging in Burbank, California. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, flicker, and jitter.

Transfer supervisor: Lee Kline.
Colorist: Russell Smith/Criterion, New York."

The film has a very different appearance now. There are entirely new color tonalities that enhance the dreamy atmosphere in a different way. Most are either colder or neutral. Detail and clarity are very good. The bulk of the outdoor footage, in particular, looks excellent. There are a few sequences with some minor density fluctuations, but it is quite easy to see that they are part of the original cinematography. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. More importantly, the traces from sharpening adjustments that are visible on the old R1 DVD release are completely eliminated. Overall image stability is outstanding. Finally, there are no damage marks, cuts, warps, or stains to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

My Own Private Idaho Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. Depth and clarity are consistently very pleasing and there are no balance issues. Music has primarily a supporting role in this film, but there are a number of transitions that are quite unique. All of them, however, are handled very well. There are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.

My Own Private Idaho Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for My Own Private Idaho. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Kings of the Road - in this archival video interview, film scholar Paul Arthur discusses the narrative structure and genre identity of My Own Private Idaho, the two characters played by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves (and some of the specific qualities they have borrowed from classic American characters such as the Drifter), and the Shakespearean overtones in the film. The interview was conducted in 2004. In English, not subtitled. (45 min, 1080i).
  
  1. Road movies and the western
  2. Male identity
  3. Shakespeare's Henriad
  4. Van Sant's cultural baggage
  5. The campfire scene
  6. Between two worlds
  7. Calculated transition
  8. Shakespeare's subversive edge
  9. A film to of starts and stops
  10. Va n Sant outs Falstaff
  11. Dance of rebellion and submission

• Gus Van Sant and Todd Haynes - in this featurette, directors Gus Van Sant and Todd Haynes (Safe, Velvet Goldmine) discuss the emergence of the New Queer Cinema, the initial script for My Own Private Idaho, the financing of the film and the casting of River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, the shooting of the time-lapse sequences, the film's stylized language, the framing of specific sequences (and how it creates the impression that large portions of the film are improvised), the central intimate sequence, etc. The conversation was recorded exclusively for Criterion in Portland, Oregon, in the fall of 2004. In English, not subtitled. (54 min, 1080p).

• The Making of My Own Private Idaho - in this documentary, editor Curtis Clayton, directors of photography John Campbell and Eric Alan Edwards, and production designer David Brisbin discuss the bold script for My Own Private Idaho and the risks it faced during the pre-production process, Gus Van Sant's visual preferences (and the specific ways in which he imagined and lensed various sequences), the Portland's gay/hustling scene during the '80s and how it was recreated in the film, the atmosphere and the flashbacks/time-lapses, etc. The documentary was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2004. In English, not subtitled. (43 min, 1080i).
  
  1. Before Idaho
  2. Scripting life on the street
  3. Working with Gus
  4. Conventions in Idaho
  5. Working with River
  6. Shooting inmate scenes
  7. Trust in the unknown

• Laurie Parker and Rain Phoenix - producer Laurie Parker and Rain Phoenix, River Phoenix's younger sister, talk about the late actor's contribution to My Own Private Idaho, the shooting of the footage from Italy, the Shakespearean overtones in the film, etc. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080i).

• Deleted Scenes - six unrestored deleted scenes.

• JT LeRoy and Jonathan Caouette - in this audio recording, filmmaker Jonathan Caouette and writer JT LeRoy (literary persona of Laura Albert) discuss My Own Private Idaho, which influenced Caouette's 2004 film Tarnation and LeRoy's novels and short stories (Sarah, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things). Director Gus Sant served as executive producer on Caouette's film and worked from LeRoy's original screenplay on Elephant. The conversation was recorded in December 2004. In English, not subtitled. (54 min, 1080p).
  
  1. First impressions
  2. Tricks
  3. Super 8
  4. Gutter punks
  5. Streetwise and Stroszek
  6. Drugs and time
  7. Seattle vs. Portland 8. In the Governor
  9. Sharks and dolphins
  10. Shakespeare stuff
  11. Cops
  12. Narcolepsy
  13. "Everybody was naked"
  14. Family portraits
  15. Audience reaction
  16. Pimps in Hollywood

• Book - 60-page illustrated book featuring essays by critic Amy Taubin and writer JT LeRoy; a 1991 article by Lance Loud; and reprinted interviews with Gus Van Sant, River Phoenix, and Keanu Reeves.

My Own Private Idaho Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All that Mike and Scott want is to experience true love and be accepted as they are, but they seem stuck in a world where everything has a price tag and people routinely marginalize each other. It seems like an odd place, but it is the exact same world you and I live in. And we aren't that different either -- each day we wear masks and sell ourselves to strangers that demand to be pleased. It is true. The only difference is that at the end of the day most of us go back to a cozy place we call home and share with someone special. Mike and Scott are not that lucky. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.