Gus Van Sant has a lot of (cowboy) hats: gay provocateur; industry
player; auteur. His experimental phase - Drugstore Cowboy, My Own
Private Idaho, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - was followed by hits To Die
For and Good Will Hunting. Idaho and To Die For earned Van Sant a
reputation for extracting brilliant performances from Hollywood
totty. He traded on his Oscar-winning success to remake Psycho. Though
panned, it provoked - always the intention of this director / novelist /
painter / musician. Returning to wide open spaces, Van Sant's next
movie is an adaptation of Brokeback Mountain - what he does best, the
beautiful and different.
