"Gummo" Dislike and praise, shadow and light, Harmony Korine's shocking debut work

Many of the performers are residents of poor areas.

Most of the performers are friends and acquaintances from Nashville, where Harmony spent her adolescence and where the film was filmed, or local amateurs she found on the streets. Harmony asks passersby in the poorest area of ​​west Nashville, ``Would you like to be in my movie?'' When she finds a house that catches her eye, she negotiates with them to let her film the movie, and the residents of the house stay in a hotel. , the interior was used as art. When someone tried to clean up the scrambled eggs on the floor, he stopped them and said, ``Leave it there!''

Jacob Reynolds, who played the role of Solomon, who had been active as a child actor since the age of 4, Chloe Sevigny, who was Harmony's girlfriend at the time and also starred in `` Kids '' (she also designed the costumes for ``Gummo''), and Harmony's friend. Pro skater Mark Gonzalez was one of the few exceptions. Nick Sutton, who plays Tamler, caught Harmony's attention on a TV talk show. Sutton appeared on the show as a drug-addicted teenager, and Harmony, who fell in love with his appearance, sought him out for a role in the film.

"Gummo" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

Linda Manns (formerly known as Muntz) played Solomon's mother in Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (1978) and Dennis Hopper's Out of Blue (1980). ) is a legendary figure who appeared in two works. She was completely retired in the 1990s, but at the request of Harmony, she decided to come back after 12 years. She shows off her strong presence in the two scenes where she shows love to Solomon in a strange way.

Both performers said that they chose Harmony based on her face and personality, not her acting ability. It is true that all the characters exist in the film as ``someone who exists somewhere in this world'', not to respond to narrative demands or serve cinematic catharsis.

What they all have in common is ``boredom and poverty,'' but I don't feel that they have a perspective that focuses on the dark side of society and raises awareness of issues. Harmony itself has made it clear that there is no political or humanitarian Arrival. The main concept of ``Gummo'' is to strip away the facades of many movies and entertainment, and as a result, it reveals the indescribable poetry and reality of America. Whether you like this work or not, you can't help but acknowledge that its aim is on point.