Gus Van Sant, the director whose films include My Own Private Idaho and Good Will Hunting, may be a favourite son of Portland, Oregon, but apparently that gives him no immunity from the local police when it comes to drinking and driving at Christmastime.

Officials in the Portland Police Bureau confirmed that Van Sant, 54, who lives in Portland and has set many of his films there, too, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday after an officer spotted his Porsche Cayenne SUV navigating a city street erratically without its headlights on.

After he was pulled over, Van Sant was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 per cent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 per cent in the state, said a police spokesman, Sergeant Brian Schmautz. He described him as exhibiting "glassy eyes, slurred speech and the smell of alcohol".