Francis Ford Coppola - Tetro
Tormented writer/poet/playwright Angelo Tetrocini (Vincent Gallo) left his family ten years ago and now lives in Buenos Aires with his girlfriend Miranda under the moniker of Tetro.
The son of a domineering symphony conductor, Tetro has left younger brother Bennie behind and has never bothered to save him from their father’s influence.
Now Bennie suddenly visits Tetro: he’s looking for answers that are rooted in the history of his family. As their father’s health fades away, the two brothers are faced with revelations that will change them forever. Meanwhile, Bennie finishes writing Tetro’s theatrical magnus opus, a hurtful recollection of a family tragedy.
It is always painful to slag off someone’s work of art, especially if “someone” is the same guy who brought you Apocalypse Now, The Godfather saga and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But Coppola’s latest makes you wonder what happened to that genius director, and who is this arrogant film school fresher with more money than sense who now inhabits his body. Yes, Tetro is that bad. Averagely written but appallingly directed.
The aesthetic saving grace of the film is the amazing black & white photography by Mihai Malaimare Jr., interspersed with surreal dance sequences and flashbacks in bright colours. But even so, Malaimare’s skills are at the service of a story that feels contrived and phony from start to finish, including the bohemian-arty setting of the La Boca neighbourhood in Buenos Aires and the gallery of its Almodovarian, oh-so-alternative dwellers.
If the cast is generally bad (with the honourable exception of Maribel Verdù, whose depiction of Miranda is sympathetic and believable), Vincent Gallo ulcerates the screen in 90% of the scenes. Gallo, back from the unfair ostracism he faced after his disastrous The Brown Bunny, is nevertheless a promise never kept: despite his distinctive features, his acting skills are just non- existant.
And finally: we all know Francis Ford Coppola is a man of high culture, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he claims his inspiration for Tetro came from Greek tragedy. You know, incest, destructive father-son relationships and all that. Yet, the twists and turns in the story make it look more like an homage to the worst Latin American soap operas - which is not a bad thing in itself, but the director should be honest enough to admit it.
Tetro, for those who want to risk it, is released in the UK on June 25th.
