15.2Û0Q 26 vun um*, &N Af*UC* Me*XKtO«YW His own private, Portland stayed on to work in the edit­ ing room. He describes Van Sant as a hard-working direc­ tor: “Very much involved in editing, he was there every day, very hands on." And all that obsessing paid off handsomely. The picture earned critical acclaim; good box office; an Oscar for the It Boys who wrote it, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon; a long-awaited statue for Williams; and Van San t’s first nomination for the golden guy. hich begs the question: Why squander your newly minted bankable big-shot cur­ rency on a shot-for-shot remake of Psycho! It might have started as a whim or simply as an intellectual challenge. From time to time, Van Sant was courted by various studio execs always on the remake trail, eager to get double or triple duty out of their properties. O n one of those occasions he suggested the Psycho redo, and eventually his credibility rose high enough to get the prover­ bial green light. Perhaps he never thought he would. But as Portland pal Snellm an notes, “G us won’t shy away from a difficult challenge.” The award Van Sant won for his reslash of Psycho says it all: the dreaded Razzie for worst director of 1998. PHOTO BY SCOTT CREEN W On the set of Qood Will H unting, which earned Van Sant his first O scar nod Continued from Page 2 5 Green characterizes Van San t as a collabora­ tive director. “G us really gives actors a lot of freedom; actors love to work with him ,” he says. N ot a slave to the script, he allows some improvised takes. “If the actors want to do it again, he’ll let them ,” G reen discloses. Van San t described his attitude toward actors to M onk.com in 1998. “ I want them to be able to make mistakes because then they’re making a go for the good things.” According to Green, Van S an t’s preparation includes “going off with the actors privately to run lines and do character development together.” In fact, G reen says Van San t’s great­ est skill is “hiring the right people and then allowing them to do their jobs.” Which means when the shooting day is done, the director can unwind. “When Gus makes a movie he doesn’t hang out much. He works, then he goes to his room and plays his guitar, which is his way o f meditating,” Green reveals. After Good Will Hunting wrapped, Green ow, with his eighth feature film, Finding For - rester, Van Sant is of necessity back on the Oscar Trail. According to E! Online, in order to N gain studio approval to cast new-kid- on-any-set Robert Brown as his lead, the director “had to promise Colum ­ bia prez Am y Pascal he’d get an Oscar nomination for the 17-year-old.” Judging from the response at the admittedly partisan Portland premiere, it doesn’t sound so farfetched. W hat’s really impressive, though, is that Van San t made that promise before he shot the movie. His confidence was no doubt based on the superb script he had in his hand, coincidentally written by the aptly nam ed Portlander Mike Rich. T his local-guy-makes-very-good will only get much richer, for he has a finely tuned ear for dialogue, tremendous perception into human nature and a feel for telling a universal­ ly appealing story. With Forrester, Van Sant returns to an ongo­ ing theme in his films, begun with his very first, M ala Noche: the relationship between an older man and a much younger one just coming of age. Although it has no gay angle, the intense friend­ ship that develops between the two men could certainly he charac­ terized as a loving rela­ tionship. And here’s the real surprise: The movie is laugh-out-loud funny, pep­ pered all the way through with humor that emanates from characterization. In this age of flashy Van San t and his MTV-style editing, this film is a brave move on Psycho-tic star Van S an t’s part. He A nne H eche T h e b es t s e l e c t io n o f m in e r a l s , jew elr y , FOSSILS AND CRYSTALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 1 st floor, Galleria 921 SW Morrison ( 503 ) 228-6998 Wide assortment of beads, findings, books, tools, workshops and gift items. A friendly 8e knowledgeable staff. L et it D ead The (503) ) 228*1882 Downtown Portland Portland Airport 503.284.9929 901 S.W. Yamhill 503.223.9510 Washington Square 503.620.2243 Mon-Fri 10-8, Sat 10-6. Sun 12-5