Last Days Reviews

One of those films you have to be in the right frame of mind for watching. I saw it on a rainy summer day and it was perfect.

Following the amazing 'Elephant' which I really loved, I was definitely eager to check Gus van Sant next directing effort. It is made in the same style but it was this time poorly received, by viewers and critics alike (just check the ratings in Imdb and Listal). Personally, even though it was definitely not as good as 'Elephant', I thought it was a solid feature. I just really dig this directing style which make the whole thing quite spellbinding to watch. I guess the issue, this time, was that Van Sant delt with a very famous public figure. I mean, with 'Elephant', we don't know exactly what happened with those guys so it gave a lot of liberty and slack to Van Sant to create his own story with some tremendous results. With this movie dealing with Kurt Cobain, virtually everybody had a meaning about what happened and most of the viewers didn't like his approach at all. I even came across a comment on Youtube about the fact that Kurt Cobain was left-handed, not right-handed as portrayed in the movie. And this was the top comment! I mean, if die-hard fans are going to bitch about such details, I think this movie was just doomed from the start. Anyway, even though I enjoyed Nirvana's music, I was able to watch the movie without checking every single detail because the purpose, in my opinion, was to give a certain feeling, not some biographical details. To conclude, even though it is nothing really mind-blowing, I thought it was an interesting flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Gus Van Sant's work.

Boring. Insubstantial. The only thing good: Asia Argento's bum.
Last Days... o, dicho en castellano, los últimos días (de Kurt Cobain).

Añadiría que la película se hace lentísima por su monótono, cansino ritmo, quizá también influenciado por la misma música de Nirvana. Van Sant -sin duda incondicional del grupo norteamericano o, al menos, de su cantante- recurre desde el comienzo de la cinta a interminables planos de detalle de Cobain, en la casa campestre donde pasó sus últimos días y terminó por quitarse la vida. Debido a ello y en el supuesto de no disponer de un conocimiento previo de cuanto ahí se nos expone, de tan apáticos movimientos de su casi único protagonista, la película puede tornarse confusa, dificultando aún más su digestión formal.

Un indolente aburrimiento preside todos sus actos. El impresionante entorno natural llega a resultar de una belleza agobiante, mórbida y sombría, que hasta convierte el relajante sonido del río en un mortal silencio de agua estancada. Estos serían los únicos instantes que salvaría de la proyección de "Last Days", aunque para ello hay que trascender lo puramente fílmico y dejarse llevar por los más procelosos senderos del espíritu.


-Crítica Nº 11-