Tetro

2009. Dir: Francis Ford Coppola. Starring: Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdú, Silvia Pérez and Rodrigo de la Serna. ●●●●○



At the heart of Francis Ford Coppola's latest film is the nature of the relationships between fathers and sons and brothers and brothers; the concept that as men we are constantly fighting for our place within the familial hierachy ensuring our alpha male position, or at least our close proximity to the alpha-male. Like the paternal influence in The Godfather the more the titular Tetro (Gallo) and his younger sibling Bennie (Ehrenreich) try to escape the pervasive influence of their tyrannical conducter father (Klaus Maria Brandauer) the more they become reflexions of him.



It is a long way from his genius run in the 1970's (2 Godfathers, a conversation and a trip to 'Nam) this film is a return to high quality melodrama that we missed in the workmanlike 90's and the muddled Youth without Youth. I believe I use the term melodrama correctly, without giving too much away the plot is as follows:

Bennie, a short version of Benjamin, biblical reference fans, the innocent youngest son and brother has run away from his military boarding school, got a job as a busboy on a liner (all resplendent in a pressed white uniform) and sailed to Buenos Aires to reunite himself with Tetro, formerly Angelo. Whilst Tetro is hostile to Bennie's presence his partner Miranda (Verdu) is welcolming and patient to both of their points of view.

It soon transpires that Tetro, who originally left the family home on a writing sabbatical, has failed to complete any of his works, suffered from a mental breakdown and now spends his time lighting avant-garde stripshows at the local theatre. Bennie attempting to ingratiate himself completes the play from Tero's scribblings, which are naturally a version of his realionship with his father, and eventually all the secrets the family has sought to hide are dragged out at a theatre festival and a funeral, with at least one of those scenes being unnecssary.

All three of the leads give superb performances. Gallo perfectly nails the unpredictability and inner conflict of the eponymous hero and Ehrenreich proves himself in the audience surrogate role as much a voyeur of the action as a participant. Verdu builds on her reputation from Pan's Labyrinth as the outsider, knowing exactly when to emote and when to just observe.

Brandauer is also chilling in his few scenes, his line on the beach "There is room for just one genius in this family" was so oily delivered I wanted to jump up and punch him. His presence in the film was even more foreboding for the limited screentime, any more and we might have got wise to the lecherous egotist and seen him as more clownish than domineering.

The melodramatic tendencies of the script were a minor turn-off and not helped by the telegraphing of major plot developments in early scenes (what did Brandauer just say? why does he not like her dancing with anyone watching? which parts in the therapy sessions are truths and which are lies? - answer these and you'll know the ending.) That said the comic breaks including the scenes of Faustus and the hotel room are deliciousy bawdy.

Coppola is clearly a better director than he is scriptwriter, the pace was elegant for the first third as we were introduced to the scene but following the initial disagreements between the brothers and the motorbike accident (I won't tell you when it comes or who is involved but it's exceptionally well edited with a it's-all-OK...OMG-moment that will have you jumping out of your seat) it speeds up until the closing scenes getting more wound up and fraught, perfectly reflecting Tetro's state of mind.

I would also like to compliment the cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. Every shot was incredibly composed, with the decision to shoot mostly in black and white (using colour for the flashbacks and an overdone technicolour effect for the dance sequences - yes there are dance sequences ancilliary to the story) being a moment of true inspiration. Indeed it's worth catching this film for the composition alone.

Overall I would say that whilst Tetro is certainly of it's medium and stuck with many of the flaws of melodrama it is still a fantastic example of that genre and I highly recommend it.