For me this film is Gus Van Sant’s magnum opus, a masterpiece that serves to (hopefully) move his personal films even more forward into abstract territory while looking back at everything he’s done: the shots following the protagonist’s back as he walks for extended periods of time recall Elephant, as does the high school setting; the long, intense shower scene recalls the remake of Psycho; the use of Christopher Doyle as DP harkening back to Pyscho as well; the all-too important inclusion of Elliott Smith songs in their entirety at the beginning and end of the film bring to mind Good Will Hunting. And, of course, although this is not part of the now-legendary Death Trilogy, its key focus is death and its confrontation.

The awkward amateur acting is splendid and a joy to behold. I believe the acting is there to deliberately take the viewer out of the film — an alienation technique akin to Godard’s use of music. The cinematography, use of music and jumbled timeline are heavily influenced by Godard as well, it seems, borrowing many techniques from Helas pour moi, Godard’s most beautiful film. Paranoid Park may be the first film to acknowledge and embrace late period Godard, and I applaud it for it. I also applaud it for being a singularly gorgeous film, possibly the most purely beautiful American film since Days of Heaven.