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Gus Van Sant DVD double in November

5 November 2009 2009

From indie and art-house darling to Hollywood royalty, director Gus Van Sant (Milk; Last Days; Elephant; Good Will Hunting) continues to confound expectations with each new project. Now, courtesy of Palisades Tartan, the Gus Van Sant Double-Bill DVD twin pack gives viewers a chance to see films from both ends of his impressive career to date.

Van Sant's debut feature is Mala Noche is a gritty slice-of-life drama made on a shoestring budget that set the template for his later work. Portland liquor store manager Walt (Tim Streeter) encounters two handsome illegal Mexican immigrants. Besotted by the young Johnny (Doug Cooeyate), who speaks no English, Walt becomes the protector of the two boys, teaching them how to drive and trying to learn Spanish in order to get closer to them. With Johnny coldly indifferent to Walt's attentions, the desire appears to be strictly one-sided, but this doesn't prevent the friendship developing into one of mutual needs and desires.

In Paranoid Park a teenage skateboarder (Gabe Nevins) has a run-in with a security guard that results in the man's death. Confused, fearful, and evasive, the teen wanders the streets of Portland as his life takes a turn for the worse in Van Sant's screen adaptation of author Blake Nelson's grim coming-of-age novel.

The Gus Van Sant Double-Bill featuring Mala Noche and Paranoid Park will be released on DVD by Palisades Tartan on 9th November 2009 at the RRP of £19.99.