Films about outsiders are not always outsiders in the world of film. In fact, they're usually pretty common, and their production will usually follow the normal guidelines of popular movies. My Own Private Idaho and Flirting are both films about outsiders that are also outsiders in the world of film. Idaho especially stood out to me because of its unusual editing, risky topic, and theatricality.
Idaho contains multiple dream/hallucination sequences that involve a lot of images that are only somewhat related to the plot. Clouds rolling across the screen, houses burning down, vintage-looking film of a woman and child--all of these appear multiple times throughout the film. Dream sequences or hallucinations in films are often used to help the hero discover their true calling or some such cliche, but here, they are mostly used to present the main character's narcolepsy. The film also uses title cards for each location, an unusual sight. Another odd choice was the insertion of the teens speaking in a Portland diner. None of them are actually characters in the film, and the way they speak is almost documentary style. They seem to be giving interviews about their personal lives, again as though they are in a documentary about male prostitutes. The most out-there editing technique is the one employed in every sex scene: we never actually see any real sex, we just see still frames of the actors in sexual positions and poses. Most directors shoot sex scenes with a lot of movement everywhere, close-ups of body parts and lots of noise. Idaho, however, creates sex scenes that are full of imaginative sexuality but devoid of movement.
The other notable outsider aspect of My Own Private Idaho is the film's extremely risky subject material: male prostitution, narcolepsy, criminals, and even a little incest. These are not exactly the kinds of things one sees in blockbuster films. All of these bizarre topics are wrapped in Shakespearian dialogue and the story of Henry the Fourth.
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