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Features: DVD
This award-winning debut feature from David Gordon Green captures a tone and pace akin to Faulkner and the lolling sweet humidity of the Deep South. Told in a series of vignettes, an inter-racial group of adolescents (played by non-professional actors) are bound by their mutual yearning for love, self-expression and the actions they are forced to take in a world of adults who have done no better. From the tragic accident that claims the life of one young boy, to an act of heroism that saves the life of another, the camera follows them in and out of spaces that are at once desolate and mystical. Awe inspiring photography by Tim Orr frames this monumental coming of age story against a romantic landscape of junk, and abandoned steel mills strewn among the lush greenery of a small southern burg.
"Two thumbs way up! One of the most haunting and beautiful films of the year." Ebert & Roeper And The Movies
"...one of the most striking and affecting American independent films of the year..." Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
"This landmark achievement is not to be missed." Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times
"The performances are surprisingly warm and natural and the cinematography is outstanding..." Jason Korsner, BBC Online
Editor's Note
David Gordon Green makes a stunning directorial debut with GEORGE WASHINGTON, a highly poetic drama that tells the story of the inhabitants of a small, impoverished southern town. Focusing on a group of five adolescent friends--George (Donald Holden), Nasia (Candace Evanofski), Buddy (Curtis Cotton III), Vernon (Damian Jewan Lee), and Sonya (Rachel Handy)--Green uses the town's barren landscape to provide a bleak, yet beautiful, backdrop for their day-to-day lives. After Nasia breaks up with Buddy for George, an introverted youth with an extremely sensitive fontanel, tragedy strikes and the friends are forced to come to terms with the situation. The resulting internal struggles send each individual into a search for redemption in intensely personal, yet very different, ways.Green's film is reminiscent of Terrence Malick's DAYS OF HEAVEN in its potent blend of naturalistic acting, lush photography, and nostalgic voice-over. The 24-year-old shows a maturity that many older directors rarely attain. It is this overriding optimism that makes it such an uplifting moviegoing experience, even amidst such somber circumstances. Also, there is an understated humor--most notably in Paul Schneider's portrayal of Rico Rice--that keeps matters hopeful throughout. GEORGE WASHINGTON is an honest, thoughtful, and deeply transcendent motion picture.
| Features | Widescreen Version Enhanced For 16x9 TVs | | "A Day With The Boys," Clu Gulager's 1969 Short Film--An Influence on George Washington | | Subtitles: English | | Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 | | David Gordon Green Short Films "Pleasant Grove" (With Commentary) And "Physical Pinball" | | Charlie Rose Interview With David Gordon Green | | Exclusive New Interviews With Cast Members | | Commentary By Director David Gordon Green, Cinematographer Tim Orr And Actor Paul Schneider | | Deleted Scene With Commentary | | Original Theatrical Trailer |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Home Vision/Public Media |
| Release Date: 3/12/2002 |
| Running Time: 90 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2000 | | Catalog ID: 020 | | UPC: 00037429166123 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Independent Spirit (2001) | | | Tim Orr, Nominee, Best Cinematography | | | Donald Holden, et al., Nominee, Best Debut Performance | | | David Gordon Green, et al., Nominee, Best Feature | | | David Gordon Green, Nominee, Best First Screenplay |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...The picture [is] bursting with talent from its young cast....Mr. Green has found a style that's defiantly his own....This may be the best-photographed film of the year..." 09/29/2000 p.E12Film Comment
"...Beautifully filmed....Green is feeling his way into tender territory..." 10/01/2000 p.75 Box Office
"...As poetry is to prose, so is this movie to most other current offerings..." 01/01/2001 p.64 Sight and Sound
"...Fresh, poetic, tender, utterly individual and richly atmospheric..." 10/01/2001 p.49 Los Angeles Times
"...GEORGE WASHINGTON is so refreshingly distinctive in its bold lyricism that you can easily get carried away by it....One of the most striking and affecting American independent film of the year..." 11/24/2000 p.C2 USA Today
"...This is an original and uncategorizable work on its own..." 03/15/2002 p.6E Rolling Stone 9 of 10
George Washington marks the stunning debut of David Gordon Green, 24, a writer and director of rare grace and feeling... Green creates a dreamlike evocation of youth--the delicacy of Ted Orr's widescreen camerawork is extraordinary--that is shattered by a pressing need for maturity... Green has created a work of startling originality that will haunt you for a good, long time. - Peter Travers
9 of 10
It stands, it soars...it moves to a seductive rhythm and vision. And it has, like each of the children in it, a restless beauty that haunts their lives and the viewer's heart. - Richard Corliss, Time Magazine
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