Movie Description A narcoleptic, psychologically-scarred young man who peddles his body, and his best friend, who also works the streets though he's from a wealthy political family, wander together and apart, from Seattle to as far away as Italy. A loose reworking of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," with Reeves as the prodigal son who slums in the Pacific Northwest's junkie lowlife milieu.
| Credits | | Producer: | Laurie Parker | | Cast: | Chiara Caselli, Flea, Michael Parker, Mickey Cottrell, Udo Kier, William Richert |
| Details | | Edition: | Director Approved Special Edition |
Notes DVD Features:
Region 1 2-Disc Set Additional Products: Booklet - 64 Page Booklet With Essay by JT LeRoy and Film Critic Amy Taubin, 1991 article by Lance Loud and reprinted interviews with Gus Van Sant, River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. Disc 1: MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO Widescreen - 1.78 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Additional Release Material: Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer Disc 2: THE SUPPLEMENTS Deleted Scenes Additional Release Material: Audio Interview - 1. Gus Van Sant - Director 2. Conversatio between JT Leroy - Writer and Jonathan Caouette - Filmmaker Video Interview - 1. KING OF THE ROAD 2. Laurie Parker - Producer, River Phoenix was given the 1991 Best Actor Award from the Venice Film Festival and the National Society of Film Critics. Film received 1991 International Critic's Award from the Toronto Festival of Festivals. Picture, director Gus Van Sant, and River Phoenix were named first runnersup in their respective categories by the 1991 New York Film Critics Circle.
Film is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's play "Henry IV" and is based directly on the short story, "My Own Private Idaho," and on two scripts, "Minions of the Moon" (aka "My Own Private Idaho) and "In a Blue Funk."
The role of Bob Pigeon was played by William Richert, who directed "The American Success Co.," "Winter Kills," and the River Phoenix vehicle "A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon."
Estimated budget $2.5 million.
Filmed in Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Twin Falls, Idaho; and Rome, Italy. Filming began November 1, 1990; completed December 21, 1990. Color by Alpha Cine, Fotocinema. Sound in Ultra Stereo.
Screened at the 1991 Deauville Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and London Film Festival.
Released in USA November 8, 1991. Released on video April 22, 1992.
Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Censors.
Reviewed in Variety September 9, 1991 (which lists running time at 102 minutes) and in New York Times and Los Angeles Times October 18, 1991.
Editorial Reviews "...Brilliantly impudent....Van Sant boldly floats us off on a sea of visions with no visible anchor....It's a fable about the leaps in perception by which a world grows up..." Film Comment - Harlan Kennedy (11/01/1991)
"...IDAHO is something completely different, a film that manages to confound all expectations, even the ones it sets up itself..." Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (10/18/1991)
"Creatively ambitious and handsomely shot....[Van Sant's] most successful mix so far between straight storytelling and experimental technique." Uncut - Stephen Dalton (09/01/2005)
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