Out now on DVD, Gus Van Sant’s “Last Days” is an ambient, languid meditation based partially on the last days of Kurt Cobain’s life. The movie is the visual equivalent of bands like Air and Sigur Ros: calm, slow-moving and hypnotic. This approach tends to work better in music however where it can serve as a beautiful backdrop — but the film is an interesting experiment in tension none the less. Van Sant completes his hat trick of slow-moving, experimental pictures (”Gerry,” “Elephant,” “Last Days”) and in the process proves his mettle as a versatile director, consistently evolving while simultaneously challenging his fans.

Despite it’s lack of plot and creeping pace, “Last Days” is comprised almost entirely of Michael Pitt (as depressed, alienated, rock star Blake) stumbling around his wooded estate in a drug-induced haze, eating Coacoa Puffs, digging a hole, and mumbling a lot. Even the movie’s inevitable climax is anti-climactic. But for all its faults, the film is ultimately rewarding. One can get lost in the beauty of Harris Savides‘ cinematography and in the general mundane-ness of it all. In many scenes, Pitt strolls off camera leaving viewers with only the sound and a subject-less frame. A handful of other actors provide interesting supporting turns as well, namely Ricky Jay, Asia Argento and a bespectacled Lukas Haas.

The film’s double-sided DVD contains some interesting bonus materials too. Aside from a bevy of deleted scenes, there is a behind the scenes doc that sheds some much-needed light on the improvised nature of the film’s production process. Another short feature documents one of the film’s most memorable scenes, an excruciatingly slow dolly shot that lasts for several minutes. Van Sant has made some terrific films over the years and his recent work surely isn’t for everybody, but it will be interesting to see what Van Sant comes up with next. If he can somehow blend his best narrative work (”Good Will Hunting,” “My Own Private Idaho”) with his experimental work, he may well be heralded alongside other directors who have done the same, folks like Stanley Kubrick and Terrence Malick. His next film is slated to be an adaptation of the best-selling novel “The Time Travelers Wife,” which was optioned by a pre-break up Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

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