6. My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)

What? — A completely one-dimensional, surface reading of Idaho's storyline probably sounds like this: a hallucinatory road movie about two young Seattle street hustlers whose lives have hit a few roadblocks and who are trying to figure out how to best switch gears and steer themselves toward a happy existence. Mike (River Phoenix) is a sensitive and hapless narcoleptic who dreams of finding his lost mother, and whose only certainty in life is his romantic love for assertive best friend Scott (Keanu Reeves). Scott, on the other hand, plays gay-for-pay but reminds his buddy that "two guys can't love each other."

What is left out of this simplistic summary is that Gus Van Sant's very personal film combines coarse hustler jargon with a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV and bases Scott's character on that of Prince Hal, son of the king. In light of this original source material, Scott's illicit occupation can be seen as a transient act of youthful rebellion against his high-ranking father (the affluent mayor of Portland), and his power struggle with street mentor Bob as a direct allusion to the Falstaff character in Henry IV.

Idaho also makes frequent references to literature, music and art that are incorporated into the narrative via lush imagery and complex stylization. Mike's daydreams usually provide the film with a gateway into short surreal sequences such as salmon trying to swim upstream, clouds racing through the sky and Mike being cradled by his mother. The result is an audacious, uniquely dense and challenging cinematic text that requires a film literate audience to properly deconstruct its many symbolic charges.

The film offers a shrewd examination of the oft-times ambivalent relations that bind men together, whether romantic, platonic, father-son, or the numerous undefined rapports that don't fit into these rigid categories. Whereas detached Mike hustles to get away from his stifling Midwestern home setting (he's the offspring of incest), the sometime callous Scott is just on an extended vacation before he reintegrates into his assigned social strata to collect Daddy's inheritance. As they travel to Idaho and then Italy in search of Mike's mother, the incompatibility of the pairing becomes increasingly apparent.

Why? — The very bankable mugs of Idaho's two leading players gave the film crossover appeal and generated surprisingly high volumes of pre-release publicity, especially considering the alternative subject matter. If nothing else, River Phoenix's stirring performance as a troubled and disoriented young queer, coupled with his untimely death two years later, cemented his status as a gay icon. His poignant performance reaches a high point during the campfire scene where he boldly confesses his love to a mostly unresponsive Mike.

Idaho is now remembered as one of the decade-defining films of the 1990s, in all its ambitious, tripped-out glory. Although some of the film's elements fall slightly flat (Keanu's limited acting chops make for truly jarring Shakespearean flourishes), Van Sant was justly hailed as one of contemporary American cinema's most adventurous filmmakers for his risk-taking hooker odyssey.

Fifteen years after Idaho's release, Gus Van Sant remains the New Queer Cinema director who has most successfully infiltrated the mainstream Hollywood movie machine, while still able to tread a fine line between more commercial endeavours (Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester, Psycho) and his personal, artsy projects (Elephant, Gerry, Last Days)

For Ray Murray, who included it on his short-list, River Phoenix "offers one of the best depictions of a young, tortured, in-love gay man on screen. Anyone — especially gay men — who has suffered unrequited love — can never forget his campfire revelation to the insensitive Keanu Reeves."

Almost Made the Cut: Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki)

This taboo story about two 8-year-old Little League boys who are abused by their coach but handle the fateful night in diametrically opposite fashion has considerably raised the profile of indie filmmaker Gregg Araki. In Mysterious Skin, he makes use of his trademark lush visuals to transcend the tough subject matter in a lyrical, dreamy way. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (of 3rd Rock fame) belies his young age with an incredibly mature and affecting performance as Chase, who in the aftermath of his "relationship" with the father figure, has veered off-track and taken up a dangerous hustler lifestyle.

Next - Paris is Burning

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