Harmony Korine’s directorial debut was initially greeted with outrage and walkouts, derided and despised by audiences and critics alike; yet it also inspired Gus Van Sant to announce, “Gummo has changed my life”, Bernardo Bertolucci to claim that it has “created a revolution in the language of cinema”, and Werner Herzog to hail the filmmaker as “the future of American cinema”. Thus the template was set for reaction to the director’s work. In this series of vignettes, Korine holds a mirror to the darker facets of America, creating a challenging, frequently disturbing, and entirely credible portrait of a crumbling society. 

Notes by Kevin Coyne.

Screening as part of the American Independents season.