Gummo (1997)

Gummo

• This absolutely blew my mind and honestly has no reason why it should. Yes, I’m slightly exaggerating, but I still feel so blown away by this film, and I can’t tell you why. Not that I don’t want to, I just literally can’t explain it. I think it’s just the simplicity of the entire production. The budget was a little over a million, only five actors of the entire cast were trained, and it’s just shot in a very up close and personal manner. I think the best way to explain this is take ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ and smush it with ‘Donnie Darko’ and maybe bits of ‘Eraserhead’, ‘Mulholland Drive’, or ‘Blue Velvet’. It’s almost a Lynchian version of the most meaningless (yet extremely meaningful) film ever. I know that makes absolutely zero sense. But it does. The story is literally just about killing time in a small, rundown town, and how everyone interacts and deals with problems and people in their own way. There’s really no central plot, but I think there’s plenty of themes if you look hard enough. From a broad sense, it seems like a nothing burger of a film, but when you analyze it, there's spicks and specks of themes of racism, violence (especially during childhood), drugs, abuse, sexuality/identity, and more. You don’t have to think too hard, but you should still pay attention. Either way, it completely captured my attention the entire time, and I’m already itching to watch it again. Aesthetically, it’s very grungy, sick looking, and surreal, while still being so down to earth that you can taste the dirt. The performances are all completely authentic, and again, you can count the number of trained actors on one hand. Everyone else was just doing their thing, and you can tell. The soundtrack was a beautiful mix of different genres that all represent the themes of the film. You got heavy metal, Madonna, rockabilly, and I could keep going. Lastly, the bathtub scene is going down as one of the most iconic and memorable film scenes that I’ve ever experienced, and maybe a top ten favorite of all time. Not sure why, but it is just like the film, it’s oddly pleasing while still dirty and gross. Overall, this is a severely underrated film and I can fully understand why it has a cult following. In fact, I’d like to join the ‘Gummo’ cult. I would recommend this to absolutely everyone to see before they die. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!