My Own Private Idaho

I just watched My Own Private Idaho (1991) for the first time and I cannot believe that this has escaped my eye for so many years. It was hilarious, beautiful and heart-shattering. I will never recover, but I can make a post about it.

This movie was so well done in every aspect. The dialogues were great, acting was perfect, cinematography was awesome, but the directing was what made it for me. Also, symbolism is used a lot and I LOVE THAT. The script is loosely based on Shakespeare's Henry VI. It came out before the lgbt masterpiece that paved the way for many other gay movies (Brokeback Mountain). It is a bit obvious that they were careful with this subject while making the movie. It's not exactly a gay movie, but it certainly has that aspect of it. We will go into all that in a minute. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Context (SPOILERS)

The movie follows two young men who are both prostitutes. Mike, who is played by River Phoenix, has narcolepsy. It causes him to faint and convulse randomly. Then we realize that he gets triggered by stressful situations like getting chased by a police. Keanu Reeves' character is Scott and he is actually from a rich family and is waiting to get his inheritance. He promises himself to stop selling his body on the streets and quit drugs when he gets his inheritance. They go on a journey to find Mike's estranged mother and get closer on the way.

They got through different adventures to find Mike's mother. Finally, someone tells them she moved to Italy. So, they go to Italy. On the way, Mike confesses his feeling to Scott and Scott says that he is not actually gay. He just has sex with men for money. He also says things like men cannot love eachother if no one pays for it. Mike says that he loves Scott anyway and that he wants to kiss him. Scott loves Mike as a friend and due to his narcolepsy, he pities him a bit. They fall asleep cuddling. In the end, they don't find Mike's mother in Italy, but Scott finds a woman to love. This breaks Mike as it means that Scott will abandon him. He goes back to America and continues prostitution. He loses his mind a bit. Months pass and Scott is back in America with his Italian wife. He has inherited his father's money and leads a respectable life. His old friends which helped him on the streets try to talk to him, but Scott refuses. Mike does not even try. The man that raised Scott on the streets cannot take this refusal and has a heart attack. His funeral is held the same day as Scott's real father's. Scott sees his street family at the funeral. He sees Mike and they stare at each other a bit. It is obvious the thieves are more genuine at their funeral. We do not know if Scott misses that life or not, cause' he does not go back.

It is a sad movie as Mike is on his own again. His narcolepsy makes him vulnerable to strangers and his line of work does not really help him. In fact, the first time he has a narcoleptic episode in the movie, he asks Scott how much money he made off him while he was asleep. Scott tells him that he would never do that as they are on the same side. I really loved the way this movie portrayed prostitution. They do not sugarcoat it, there is talk about forced prostitution as well as rape and I think this needs to be talked about more in such movies. Mike's suspicion also implies that this has happened before, which is sad but realistic.

The street fam, aka the prostitutes and thieves are portrayed as a little family. They help each other out, they live together. However, it is not like a proper "found family" trope as it is more realistic. They need each other to live on the streets, so they have to help each other out. Especially Mike needs people as he keeps collapsing. I loved this portrayal too. In general, the movie was more realistic than anything. Scott not being gay is also realistic, this is not a movie about love or lgbt rights. This is about Mike and his miserable realistic life. We cannot blame Scott for not being gay or not staying with Mike his whole life. It is also not a crime for him to want to live a more respectable life. However, his sudden abandonment and ignorance of his street fam is diabolical. Especially the way he treated Mike after getting rich. He just ignored him but this is worse them punching him. I think it is the worst when someone you used to know so well acts like they don't even know you. In the end, Scott didn't care if Mike lived or died and that is the tragedy. He came into Mike's life and left so suddenly that Mike ended up in the same place he had started from, his own private Idaho.

Idaho as a Metaphor

The movie starts on a road in Idaho and ends on the same road. The road is actually Mike's own private Idaho, his imaginary place. Well, more like a metaphor for it. The first scene of the movie is Mike standing on a road in Idaho, where he has a narcoleptic episode later.

He is alone and vulnerable as there is no one to take care of him. He says that this road is significant as there is no other like it. He looks down the road and says that he sees a "fucked up face". The director uses this as a opportunity for us to see from Mike's POV. He then collapses in the middle of the road and the movie starts. We see Mike orgasm and a barn falls and shatters on the road in Idaho at the same time. This is one of the biggest clues on the road being Mike's imaginary place.

The next time Mike collapses, Scott is there. Finally, someone takes care of him. Scott becomes protective of Mike as his pity for him grows. They visit Mike's brother in Idaho, which makes them realize that he is also Mike's father. Mike being a product of incest just adds to Scott's pity. He collapses a lot due to the stress of this. Scott takes care of him everytime and this feeds Mike's love towards him. The confession scene takes place at a campfire, which is very popular with gay movies.

Writer and director Gus Van Sant has stated that Mike was supposed to be asexual and he wouldn't have a crush on Scott, but River Phoenix thought that he should. He says that most of the campfire scene was improvised by Phoenix and Reeves. Personally, I did not know that these men were such great actors. This was my first River Phoenix movie, although I've seen his brother, Joaquin, on the screen a lot. Talent definitely runs in the family. As for Reeves, I've only seen Matrix and John Wick. He gave great performances, but I thought his roles were not particularly hard to play. They were both phenomenal, but I wish River was still here. He would have an awesome career. It was also brave for them both to star in such a movie at the time as lgbt movies could kill one's career. They could get casted as gay men forever. However, they took the risk and made a masterpiece.

Back to the movie, they go to Italy and Scott falls in love with a girl. The do not find Mike'S mother. So, it is like double-tragedy for him. There is this dinner scene of Scott flirting with Carmella (his girlfriend) and Mike being in pain.

Then another scene of Mike being miserable due to his inability to find his mother. This is the last time Scott takes care of him.

Scott apologises to Mike as he cannot come back to the US with him. He says that he will catch up to Mike. This does not happen as Scott ignores Mike when he is back and gets his inheritance. Mike starts to lose his mind as he is mourning the loss of Scott. He continues prostitution, but it does not go well as he keeps collapsing more than ever. This is due to Scott's abandonment of him. It triggers his own abandonment issues due to his mother. The shot showing Scott leaving shows Mike's abandonment so well. It does not look like he is coming back.

In the end, Mike is on the same road again, symbolizing that after everything, he is still where he was. There was no progress. Scott's presence did affect him as we saw them both on "the road" when they were travelling. However, in the end Mike is still alone. He collapses in the middle of the road just like in the first scene. This time a truck goes by and the drivers steal Mike's bag and shoes. This symbolizes his vulnerability without Scott. The final scene is a man carrying Mike into his car. We do not know if this means safety or danger for Mike. It is an open ending, but the setting of the scene implies that it is not really safety.

That is what expert usage of symbolism looks like. It became one of my favourite movies in just one watch. I can't wait to force my friends to watch it. In the mean time, here are some of my fave shots from the movie.

Thank you for reading!