Posted by Melwin on January 29, 2010
Tetro is the latest fine offering written, directed and released by Francis Ford Coppola. The drama plays out in modern day La Boca, Buenos Aires, as young American Bennie (newcomer 19-year-old Alden Ehrenreich, dead-ringer for Leo circa the days of The Beach and Romeo + Juliet) comes to Buenos Aires to find his brother Angie (Vincent Gallo), now known as Tetro. Intrigue surrounds Tetro’s reasons for never returning to America, having left to write and escape their domineering father, a virtuosic conductor (Klaus Maria Brandauer) 10 years previously. The story unravels as Bennie decodes the script of Tetro’s unpublished play.
The modern day scenes are filmed in rich black and white, film noir-style with flashbacks from the past shot in grainy hand-held style home video, or dramatized through ballet or theatre sequences. Simple images from the film - like ambulance lights flashing against Tetro’s face as he watches the scene of another car crash in his life - sit with you long after it’s over, much like a well-composed Robert Doisneau scene. Musical themes drive the plot of this story and the soundtrack is, unsurprisingly, an important additional character in this film. Playful accordion riffs accompanying Bennie’s daily discovery of Buenos Aires life, introduced by Tetro and his girlfriend, (played warmly by Maribel Verdú from Y tu Mama Tambien and Pan’s Labyrinth) melt into wistful soaring oboe solos to accompany scenes dealing with Bennie’s feelings of abandonment, while dramatic symphonic interludes back Tetro’s fiery eruptions of anger, guilt and jealousy.
The grand themes of transcending the father, innocence lost, rivalry and betrayal are dealt with in the melodramatic style of an opera or ballet. Tetro won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, particularly those obsessed with a film’s resolution being unforeseeable, but we loved the style of this film and would happily see it again. It’s on limited release, so catch it while you can.
tetro, francis ford coppola