Gus Van Sant Hauled Up For DUI

PORTLAND, OREGON - In something that is not too uncommon in tinsel town, Gus Van Sant, American film maker has been arrested for drunken driving in Portland, Oregon. The 54 year old filmmaker was arrested at 1:48 a.m., with bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
With the blood-alcohol level reading 0.19 percent on the breathalyzer, more than twice the permissible state limit of 0.8 percent, Van Sant failed the sobriety tests as well, according to officers that made the arrest. The first move the officers made was when they saw the car he was driving did not have its lights on.
Van Sant was released later and was described as cooperative throughout the arrest. He must pay $500 as fine to retrieve his vehicle, Sgt. Brian Schmautz, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau said.
A court date has been set for Jan. 17.
Van Sant has been at the helm of a number of Hollywood big movies, the most well-known among them being Finding Forrester and Good Will Hunting. Openly gay himself, his movies mostly deal with dysfunction in our society today, and contain a bevy of such dysfunctional characters. After the success of Finding Forrester, he did a remake of one of Hollywood’s first films that dealt with the dysfunctional human – Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Van Sant has been a man of many talents. Born in 1952 in Louisville, Kentucky, Van Sant is not just a filmmaker; he is also a writer, a photographer, and a musician. He started his career shooting commercials for television, and then moved to cinema. As a writer and director, he has worked on adapting to cinema Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, a novel by Tom Robbins.
For most of his early movies, Van Sant had done the screenplay himself. Apart from making movies, he has also written a book – Pink, and also published another book containing his photographic works – 108 Portraits.
Besides, the multi-talented Van Sant also has to his credit two music albums – Gus Van Sant and 18 Songs about Golf. His resume as a director is impressive in itself, and includes Mala Noche, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, To Die For, Good Will Hunting, Psycho, Finding Forrester, Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days.
from The Money Times