Harmony Korine and the late Bryant Crenshaw in Gummo
(UPDATE, 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6: A fund has been established to give Crenshaw a memorial service. From the site: "Any additional proceeds will be used to help raise awareness for the homeless community in Nashville Tn. Please donate what you can.")
Bryant Crenshaw, the diminutive actor who made an indelible impression as "Midget" in Harmony Korine's Nashville-shot 1997 feature debut Gummo, was struck and killed last night in a car accident. He was 42.
According to WSMV, the accident occurred just before 7 p.m., when Allen Brown, 51, was traveling down Murfreesboro Road in a pickup truck. Brown told police that Crenshaw tried to cross the street on foot, causing a car in front of him to swerve. Brown could not avoid him.
Filmmaker James Clauer, who served as second-unit director on Gummo, was in school with Crenshaw from first through 12th grade and "hung out hardcore" with him in elementary school. Asked for memories of working with him on Gummo's famously anarchic shoot, a crew member said, "i probably wouldn't want to put some of those memories in print if ya know what I'm saying …"
In recent years, Crenshaw, who was homeless, could often be seen near the intersection of 12th and Wedgewood. He appeared in at least one other feature, 2007's video-shot Trite This Way. Friends say they are planning a memorial service and will pass along details as they become available.
Below: the oft-watched Gummo clip of Crenshaw with writer-director Korine, and a clip of Crenshaw beat-boxing in Trite This Way.
Gummo:
This is the scene Harmony Korine(Writer/Director) is in. Also the black midget in the scene is a bum from the college town Harmony lived that was often picked up by the local frat kids and taken to there parties. Also some people have said they saw Harmony with the midget drinking coffee at a local coffee shop.
Trite This Way:
BUY THIS MOVIE HERE www.brokenspoons.com
TRITE THIS WAY
by Stina Chyn
(2005-01-09)
2003, Un-rated, 85 Minutes, broken spoon production/barefoot and independent movie
The story of Jason Heaths film Trite This Way goes like this: Levi Moore (Josh Riebel) just got out of prison and is re-entering a life that is about to change dramatically. Somebody dies; someone else isnt completely heterosexual; and an experiment with pseudo-bulimia doesnt work. Theres the premise, but Heaths film is more than just a presentation of cause-and-events. Hosted by Felissa Rose of Sleepaway Camp (Robert Hiltzik, 1983), Trite This Way is like a spoken-word opus accompanied by moving pictures.
Between scenes designed to develop the story, there are monologues where Levi speaks his mind open mic night style. From the inflections in his voice, you can tell that his narration is for self-_expression rather than to further the plot. Images depicting his growth from kid to young adult fill the screen as he reflects on the following:
Myself?
Yeah, huh, sure.
Myself? ha.
I never thought my life was gonna end up like this
I didnt think things
I didnt think that things were gonna end up like this
A struggle.
A struggle?
A battle that I might not win?
I never thought my life was gonna end up like this
I just wish that I could be my mothers sweet, innocent, loving child again
I wish that
Mother, I would do anything to be your kid again
I would fuckin
Shit, I would
I didnt think my life was gonna be a struggle
I didnt think that I wasnt gonna be able to
Id give anything to be my mothers kid again
I wish that I could just be my mothers kid again
So, if Mom, if youd take me back?
You know, I just wanna be your kid
Just one more time
Shit, I would do anything
I would fuckin kick somebody
Id kick Mr. Fuckin Dudes ass
Mr. Dude.
There is no stage, no one dressed in black, no one is snapping their fingers to signal approval, but there is a performance quality to the way Levi narrates, as if he knows he has an audience. On that note, the film is very self-aware, incorporating actual home-video footage of characters directly addressing the camera and shaky Super 8 sequences of people, cars, and puppies.
Trite This Way opens with the director giving thanks to Inspiration, followed by a quote by Nietzsche and another by Ziggy Marley. The latter begs, stop telling the same story. Ziggys words surely made a deep impression on Heath because he doesnt tell the same story. Even if his methods have been employed before (blending elements of narrative, non-narrative, experimental, and self-conscious cinema), Heath understands how much he can accomplish by manipulating layers of sound and image. In addition to live performances and published works, spoken-word artists and poets in general can exhibit their work aurally on CDs. But these orators may not realize they can utilize the visual plane as well. Heath, on the other hand, already knows.
