interview by OLIVIER ZAHM
Harmony Korine’s sister found these pictures in a closet, under a broken skateboard and a pile of socks. They were used for the costume fittings of Harmony’s first film, GUMMO, a selection of wild vignettes set in a fictional southern US town destroyed by a tornado. Gummo became a cult film, with the famous “bunny boy,” and the styling of Chloë Sevigny, who also acted in the film and was Harmony’s girlfriend at the time. This feature is a flashback to the quintessential ’90s movie.
OLIVIER ZAHM — You made Gummo — your first feature film — 15 years ago, after writing the script for Larry Clark’s film, Kids. Could you describe the ambiance on the set of Gummo?
HARMONY KORINE — The whole thing was like one long anecdote. The filming of it came together like magic falling from the sky. I remember being alone with my cinematographer in a kitchen, filming a guy who was wrestling a broken chair, and thinking how great it all was. At one point my entire crew abandoned me. They were disgusted with the locations and the people and they just walked away.
OLIVIER ZAHM — What was Gummo about?
HARMONY KORINE — The story takes place in a small town a tornado has destroyed. It follows two teenage boys who sniff paint and kill cats, which they sell to a Chinese restaurant. It also follows teenage sisters who wander around the town. But the story is really held together by a small boy who wears pink rabbit ears and rides around on a little yellow skateboard. The film is about these — and many other — people in the town.
OLIVIER ZAHM — Chloë Sevigny acted in the film. What was it like directing a girl you were in love with?
HARMONY KORINE — It was great — we had a great time. I was really young then. It all seems like a dream to me now.
OLIVIER ZAHM — What direction did you give Chloë, in terms of costume design?
HARMONY KORINE — We based the looks on those of real kids in the neighborhood in Tennessee where we filmed.
OLIVIER ZAHM — Why did you shoot Gummo in Tennessee?
HARMONY KORINE — Because I grew up in Nashville.
OLIVIER ZAHM — Was the film well received?
HARMONY KORINE — A lot of people reviled Gummo, something I’ve never understood. For me it’s just a simple love letter.
END
Anonymous Paint Sniffer Girl
Jacob Sewell as Bunny Boy
Carisa Glucksman as Helen
James David Glass as Tummler’s dad
Jacob Reynolds as Solomon
Anonymous Sleeping Woman
Chloë Sevigny as Dot
Chloë Sevigny as Dot
Daniel Martin as Jarrod
Nick Sutton as Tummler
Lara Tosh as Girl in Car
Charles Matthew Coatney as Eddie
Ellen M. Smith as Ellen
[Table of contents]
night pictures
night pictures by Olivier Zahm with a portfolio by Ron Galella
by Olivier Zahm
by Alex Israel
by Rachel Chandler
Noritoshi Hirakawa
by Sabine Heller
by Alex Israel
by Olivier Zahm
by Matt Sweeney
by Kazumi Asamura Hayashi
by Olivier Zahm
by Marcelo krasilcic
by Dominique Isserman
by Stacey Mark
by Camille Bidault Waddington
by Olivier Zahm
by Martien Mulder
by Steven Klein
by Magnus Unnar
by Theo Wenner
by Olivier Zahm
by Glenn O'Brien
by Lola Schnabel
by Olivier Amsellem