Francis Ford Coppola's Melodrama About Brothers and Fathers
Written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Tetro (2009) is an idiosyncratic, resolutely un-Hollywood film. Coppola deliberately gives his story implausible twists and over-the-top theatricality as he works some of the same psychological territory as Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams. The movie is in a dreamlike black-and-white, interspersed occasionally with brief reveries or fantasies in color. The tale takes place in Argentina, but the dialogue is mostly in English.
The film opens with 17-year-old Bennie Tetrocini (newcomer Alden Ehrenreich in a fine performance) arriving in the artsy La Boca district of Buenos Aires. He's come there to look up his much older brother Angelo (scruffy, brooding Vincent Gallo), who went into self-imposed exile years ago and now leads the bohemian life, going by the name Tetro. Bennie gradually learns why his brother turned his back on the Tetrocini family.
Tetro is surrounded by quirky characters involved with the performing arts. We see part of a campy performance of Fausta, a version of the Faust legend where the protagonist is a nearly naked woman. Also, we go to the offbeat Patagonia Festival and watch a scene from Wander Lust, an autobiographical play written by the Tetrocini brothers. Furthermore, at times the film's characters envision past events in the form of modern dance. In addition, Coppola takes us to a radio show that originates at a psychiatric hospital and the patients talk on the air.
The movie's strong cast includes Maribel Verdú, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Carmen Maura.
Supplementary Materials
The Tetro DVD contains about 48 minutes of video bonus materials consisting of half a dozen featurettes, the longest of which runs nine minutes. The most fun of these is "Fausta: A Drama in Verse," an extended version of the outrageous Fausta sequence shown in the feature film. "The Ballet" is about the choreography in the movie's dance fantasies, and "La Colifata" is a behind-the-scenes look at filming at a real-life psychiatric hospital. "The Rehearsal Process" shows how Coppola preps actors before shooting, and in it Vincent Gallo expresses his belief that rehearsal is generally a bad thing. There are also featurettes on the film's excellent cinematography and topnotch musical score.
The DVD provides a feature-length audio commentary, but it's only sporadically interesting and occasionally informative. The commentary is mostly by writer-director Francis Ford Coppola, who seems to be watching the film as he speaks. Interspersed with his commentary are remarks by actor Alden Ehrenreich, and they sound as though they were probably taken from a separate interview he gave.
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Total Runtime: 2 hours 7 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Language, Some Sexuality and Nudity