Korine comments on the film 's pop-aesthetic , saying : " America is all about this recycling , this interpretation of pop . I want you to see these kids wearing Bone Thugs & Harmony t-shirts and Metallica hats – this almost schizophrenic identification with popular imagery . If you think about , that 's how people relate to each other these days , through these images . " Dot and Helen are modeled after Cherie Currie . " I wanted them to seem like homeschool kids ... sort of guessing and coming up with these hipster things . They almost make a homeschool hip language . I wanted this inbred vernacular . " The film has a strong vaudevillian influence . The name of the character Tummler is taken directly from the vaudevillian term given to lower-level comics of the day . " The guys that would check you into a hotel room , take your coat , and at the same time throw a few one-liners out . They 're like the warm-up , the lowest level comedian . The tummler . " ( See Borscht Belt ) Robin O'Hara argues that while people naturally look for points of reference to describe '' Gummo '' ( such as Herzog , Cassavetes , Arbus , Fellini , Godard , Maysles and Jarman ) that Korine 's art really is his own . " He is an original , in every sense of the word . " Korine comments on the film 's aesthetic : " We tried very hard not to reference other films . We wanted '' Gummo '' to set its own standard . " '' Gummo '' premiered at the 24th Telluride Film Festival on August 29 , 1997 . During the screening , numerous people got up and left during the initial cat drowning sequence . Several festival appearances followed including International Film Festival Rotterdam where it won the KNF Award for " best feature film in the official section that does not yet have distribution within the Netherlands , " and Venice Film Festival where it received a special mention from the FIPRESCI jury . It was picked up for distribution by Fine Line Features , and saw a limited release with an R rating ( edited from the original NC-17 version ) in the United States on October 17 , 1997 for pervasive depiction of anti-social behavior of juveniles , including violence , substance abuse , sexuality and language
Venice Film Festival
54th Venice International Film Festival
Gummo