Review of Buffalo '66 (1998) by Bruno L — 18 Sep 2011

[B+/85] A quirky dark comic-fantasy, dredged from the director's epic personal turmoils and preoccupations for catharsis through return to a weird, brown, seedy hometown and a surreal family. Very narcissistically clever and ridiculous, but stylish with a grotesque comedy of nervous self-loathing, an impossibly indulgent kidnapped maiden, and a sustained atmosphere of broken memories and wrong moves in a bittersweet palace of the imagination.

Obviously a work bordering on auteurist absurdity, springing from naked pathological motives for family revenge and redemption, as well as an inherently unshakable mean-spiritedness, it nevertheless conveys abundant sincerity and mercy, and a sleek control of chaotically fruitful energies.