Van Sant returns to Cannes with "Paranoid Park"

CANNES, France, May 21 (Reuters) Gus Van Sant's preference for young, non-professional actors and trancelike images of skateboarding define ''Paranoid Park'', the US director's latestfeature showing at the Cannes film festival.

The film recounts the story of Alex, a 16-year-old skateboarder who struggles to come to terms with his life and those around him after he accidentally causes the death of a security guard.

Cast using a mixture of posters in record shops, announcements on the MySpace Internet site and advertisements in local newspapers, ''Paranoid Park'' used mainly unknowns, including many who had never acted before.

''I really like working with non-professionals because I think in doing that I'm trying out things that are natural to them and filming that side of them rather than creating from scratch,'' Van Sant said after the press screening today.

Alex, played by newcomer Gabe Nevins, glides blankly through the film, seemingly out of reach of both his girlfriend, played by Taylor Momsen and a detective played by Dan Liu.

After ''Elephant'', Van Sant's film on the Columbine school shootings which won the Palme d'Or in 2003, ''Paranoid Park'' throws an often dreamlike light on the concrete skating alleys and shopping malls of his young protagonists.

The action is underscored by a soundtrack that ranges from melodies from Fellini scores to what Van Sant called ''concrete music'' from a local radio station.

His characteristically fluid style, supported by cinematographer Christopher Doyle, embraces the flowing movement of the skaters in the park, often in slow motion, underlining the detached, inward-looking emotions of Alex and his friends.

''I think it's because neither of us are skaters,'' said Doyle, who gained wide recognition for his work with Chinese director Wong Kar Wai.

He said he and Van Sant had looked for a way to approximate the emotional and physical experience of skating. ''And obviously like this you've got the whole energy and the beauty of movement and the physicality of skating.'' But away from the graceful movements of the skaters, Van Sant gives an uneasy, troubled feel to a suburban youth that, with only one exception, seems turned away from the world outside and indifferent to the future.

''Maybe I was attracted to that side because it represented my view of growing older,'' Van Sant said.

''Maybe today, you could think growing older may include spending time fighting in Iraq. You know, there are these things -- where will I be in six or seven years? -- that was my experience.'' REUTERS SKB VC1918