Drugstore Cowboy
This recurring cycle provides an opportunity to present to the public films from various eras and origins thanks to copies recently acquired by the Cinémathèque québécoise. This month, Gus Van Sant's second feature film, Drugstore Cowboy, takes us into the drug-addled America of the 1970s through the adaptation of James Fogle's eponymous autobiographical novel.
In Portland, Oregon, in the early 1970s, Bob, Dianne and their fellow drug addicts rob drugstores to support themselves. When tragedy strikes the group, Bob decides to return to the straight and narrow.
Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant is an American director, screenwriter, producer, editor, photographer, and musician. He spent much of his life in Portland, Oregon, a city that serves as the backdrop for many of his films. After starting out as an independent filmmaker, notably with My Own Private Idaho (1991), he moved closer to Hollywood with commissioned films like To Die For (1995) and the Academy Award winner Good Will Hunting (1997). He then returned to a cinema far from financial pressures and artistically independent, including Elephant (2003), loosely inspired by the Columbine massacre (Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival), and Last Days (2005), which depicts his vision of Kurt Cobain's final days. His career took another turn in 2008 with Milk (2008), a very personal yet popular film. It won several Academy Awards and was a great commercial success.
