A man who is dissatisfied with his family life leaves home for weeks at a time, drifting from town to town.
Directed by Jon Jost
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.6 / 5
Popular Reviews
6 reviews
Alfred HitchTOK
1.0★ · 11/06/22
Yeesh
I'm not sure how this one scored a place on the 1001 list.
Shot on an absolute shoe-string budget (which was compounded by the shady Russian subtitled dub I watched on YouTube) 'Last Chants' tells the story of loser Tom who deserts his pregnant wife and children to travel around Montana blasting (at absolutely ear bursting levels) twangy country music, hooking up with randoms and generally complaining about his relationship to everyone he meets.
Tom is a singularly unlikeable asshole and it's a challenge to spend even the 90 minute run time in his presence. Director Jon Jost pads the run time with endless shaky cam shots of scenery lensed through car windscreens often too dark to distinguish anything bar a Headlight. Background noise stifles nearly every conversation - from screeching bar patrons to blaring TV's. I imagine this realistic approach was novel for a narrative feature in 77 which is probably why it earns its place on the 1001 list but it's just grating rather than entertaining.
The review in the 1001 sells this as a pre-cursor to Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer but they are drawing a really long bow in my opinion.
I'm not sure how this one scored a place on the 1001 list.
Shot on an absolute shoe-string budget (which was compounded by the shady Russian subtitled dub I watched on YouTube) 'Last Chants' tells the story of loser Tom who deserts his pregnant wife and children to travel around Montana blasting (at absolutely ear bursting levels) twangy country music, hooking up with randoms and generally complaining about his relationship to everyone he meets.
Tom is a singularly unlikeable asshole and it's a challenge to spend even the 90 minute run time in his presence. Director Jon Jost pads the run time with endless shaky cam shots of scenery lensed through car windscreens often too dark to distinguish anything bar a Headlight. Background noise stifles nearly every conversation - from screeching bar patrons to blaring TV's. I imagine this realistic approach was novel for a narrative feature in 77 which is probably why it earns its place on the 1001 list but it's just grating rather than entertaining.
The review in the 1001 sells this as a pre-cursor to Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer but they are drawing a really long bow in my opinion.
