Portland Natively

You know who Brokeback Mountain was directed by? That's right, Ang Lee. Ang Lee started off with films made in Taiwan, most notably, The Wedding Banquet and Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. Emma Thompson gave him his first opportunity to do a picture in English, Sense and Sensibility, which she both starred in and wrote the screenplay adaptation for.

But do you know who was supposed to have directed it? Gay director, Gus Van Sant. One has to imagine that would have been a completely different film.

Gus Van Sant has completed a film called Paranoid Park written by Blake Nelson, who sets the story in Portland. Van Sant has cast local Portland natives in this film adaptation.

That made me think that Nelson's thinking of what makes Portland Portland is completely different from my perception. After all, I wasn't even there an entire week, and have no idea about what makes a certain place the way it is.

Indeed, if a city's effect isn't purely based on landmarks, and on local sports team, and perhaps a dance club, or an eating establishment, or a music scene, then what exactly makes a city a city? There's always the people themselves.

In any case, I'm curious to see Van Sant's film, at the very least to get a sense of what one director's vision of Portland is.