Midnight Cowboy or My Own Private Idaho?

brody

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Hard to say. I love both films, but I have'nt seen "Midnight Cowboy" recently, so I would say "My Own Private idaho". Although the 2 films share the theme of male prostitution, the latter shows that for Mike (River Phoenix' character) it is possible to make love to a man without being paid for it, which he declares in the famous kissing scene with Scott (Keanu Reeves) by the campfire. Homosexuality is shown as a possibility. Jon Voight's character in MC did'nt have that choice. Much had happened since 1969 when Midnight Cowboy came out up to 1991 when Idaho was made.

By the way, in John Glatts Phoenix biography, Gus van Sant, the director of Idaho, reveals that the kiss and the fact that Mike was in love with Scott, was River Phoenix' idea.
 

texas41-38

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Both films were pretty far out there at the time. MC was a film with great writing and acting. Idaho had the same things. But Idaho had real chemistry between the actors. People walked away from it questioning people and things in their own lives.
 

elegant20

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What is interesting is that the characters were suppose to be the same ages, however, River's character was six years younger than Reeve's. Dustin Hoffman's character was only a year older than Voigt's character.
 
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houtx48

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when midnight cowboy came out it got the highest age rating at that time, it was before nc 17, can't remember what it was called though. I think Barbarella also got the same rating. lollll how times have changed.
 

elegant20

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Wasn't Midnight Cowboy when first released controversial back then? It did raise a lot of eyebrows back in 1969, possibly for the nudity that was present in the film. I think the difference between Midnight Cowboy and MOPI is that MOPI is mostly based on a Shakepeare play while Midnight Cowboy based on the realities itself, without relying any tricks. But that's how I see it. I could be wrong. Hell, I am never right.
 

elegant20

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I think one of the main reasons is that Gus Van Sant is more heavy-handed on the symbolism aspect while Schlesinger is more based on the realism aspect. While they are pretty bleak film, as Nick444 stated, I think Schlesinger used the realism while Gus Van Sant is more of a symbolism director for MOPI. I mean, nothing against Gus Van Sant's symbolism and I kind of analyze it, even though it is my own interpretations. For example, the guppies swiming upstream is possibly an example of River's dick becoming hard and the house crashing down is possibly ejaculation itself. I am not very good at Van Sant's symbolism, but I am sure they are different interpretations for that. What is interesting is the porno mags coming to life. While it serves no purpose, I thought it was interesting that you could see a Jeff Stryker mag on the right bottom corner.....did anybody spot that mag of Jeff Stryker or was it just me at 7:17? :smile:

YouTube - My Own Private Idaho, Part 2