Search - Gummo on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1997 DVD Release: 03/20/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 35 mins Studio: New Line Home Video Members Wishing: 27 Genres: Avant-garde / Experimental, Teen Movie, Ensemble Film

In this elliptical ensemble piece, which marks the directorial debut of indie bad boy Harmony Korine, the teens of tornado-scarred Xenia, OH, kill cats, tape their boobies, arm-wrestle, bathe, cross-dress, huff glue, avoid perverts, pay to have sex with retarded girls, lift makeshift dumbbells to the strains of Madonna's "Like a Prayer," fight, cuss, shave their eyebrows, undergo cancer treatment, euthanize senior citizens, and pee on passing cars. A hallucinatory barrage of images and scenarios with little in the way of traditional plot, Gummo has been variously described as a surrealist joke, a visual poem, and a worm's-eye view of white-trash suffering. The main characters include Solomon (Jacob Reynolds), who sells cat carcasses to a middleman who procures them for use at a local Chinese restaurant; his mother (Linda Manz), who teaches him to tap dance while reminiscing about her dead husband; Tummler (Nick Sutton), a mullet-haired local sex symbol; a midget (Bryant L. Crenshaw); a pair of boy-crazy, bleach-blond sisters named Dot (Chloë Sevigny) and Helen (Carisa Bara); a slut with a lump in her breast (Lara Tosh); a group of drunken louts; and Bunny Boy (Jacob Sewell), who wanders the town enigmatically in a pair of long pink ears. In between scenes of these characters enacting their bizarre routines, Korine intersperses impressionistic and quasi-documentary scenes with voice-over narration that ranges from incest memoirs to arty dialogue along the lines of "He's got what it takes to be a legend: He's got a marvelous persona." Shot just outside Nashville, TN, Gummo includes costume designs by Korine's then-girlfriend, Chloë Sevigny, who also plays Dot and who previously starred in the Korine-scipted, Larry Clark-directed Kids. Jacob Reynolds would go on to appear in Getting to Know You, though few of the director's other discoveries have appeared on film since. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Jacob Reynolds - Solomon
Nick Sutton - Tummler
Jacob Sewell - Bunny Boy
Darby Dougherty - Darby
Chloë Sevigny - Dot

A day in the life of some strange and disturbing teenagers is the basis for the film Gummo. This 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer appears to be very solid featuring well-saturated black levels and sharp, detailed colors. Aside of a small amount of edge enhancement, this is a very nice-looking picture. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround in English. While this sound mix may not be very directional or bombastic, overall the dialogue, effects, and music are clear of any excessive hiss or distortion. Also included on this disc are some English subtitles. The extra features on Gummo include a very bizarre animated photo gallery (with commentary by director Harmony Korine), as well as a few cast and crew filmographies. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide