The Gus Van Sant Podcast No. 6 :Michael J. Glass on Good Will Hunting (1997)

https://notesonfilm1.com/2024/11/17/the-gus-van-sant-podcast-no-6-michael-j-glass-on-good-will-hunting-1997/ Michael J. Glass joins me for a discussion of Gus Van Sant’s GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997), a blockbuster success in its day; a film that won Robin Williams an Oscar, made stars of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and left a big cultural imprint. It’s since been much parodied (in COMMUNITY, THE SIMPSONS, all over youtube) and a dominant critical perspective is slightly sniffy on the film: filmmaking by numbers and committees on a ‘we need a job’ script. We found it an extremely easy watch that holds up and is even more interesting on second viewing. GOOD WILL HUNTING is an effective piece that is surprising in all kinds of ways and still works. We discuss its critique of the US, its focus on class, on abuse, on the fragility of young men. Its rare to see a film that dramatizes how American foreign policy is one of extraction and exploitation and how social mobility in the US is available only to geniuses with sponsorship. We also discuss whether how Van Sant film and what he focusses on might be connected to sexual identity.