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'Gerry' by Gus Van Sant

The film Gerry has been an underlying inspiration to my degree show filmwork. Written by Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Gus Van Sant, directed by Gus Van Sant and staring Affleck and Damon as the two Gerrys, this film, consisting of precisely 100 shots(!), involves the simple storyline of a walk. The two Gerrys set out across a sparse wilderness somewhere near the Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA. Their walking pace and decisions in direction across the mundane landscape have always been a curiosity to me - they seem so involved in their conversation that they lose they way and forget which direction they had travelled from. I shall leave the end of this film for you to view but it certainly suprised me - it's initial shots create the sense that the Gerrys are aware of where they are going as if they have an aim but their indecisiveness and unclear bickerings confuse their actions and ultimatley ends in what can only be a shock revelation. Based on a true story, I am sure there are those who will guess the final actions/decisions of the characters but I am sure that, even by knowing/guessing the plot, the tension created from a lack of speech and a sombre soundtrack builds the final scenes into the climax of the overall film.

Not only has the plot, soundtrack and characters had an effect on my own filmwork but the camera work and setting has been of most significance. The wide angle shots of the surrounding landscape, panning around the characters and still shots following the actors decisions and actions inspire my imagination evry time I watch any scene from this film. Abover are stills from specific shots that I find most exciting - one scene of when one Gerry (Affleck) is stuck for five minutes on top a large boulder and must jump down and one of the two Gerrys shuffling along, one behind the other, across the white sand just as dawn is breaking on their final day of being dehydrated, hungry ad lost. The other still is one which, on watching the film since making my degree show work, has become a favourite as its composition is like that of one of the still camera real-time shots from my Tommy Jones final piece (stills below.) This was done completely by accident and I feel it is only fitting that I can make such a direct connection with my work and that of Gerry, a film that will stay with my thoughts for many years to come.