Review of Tetro (2009) by Cameron M — 18 Sep 2009

Thank god for Francis Ford Coppola. And that doesn't mean that I need to thank him for this film. Tetro feels like a truly independent film, something quite rare these days especially from the USA. It is an interesting blend of an American (United States of) story transported to Buenos Aires.

A young shy 17 year old Benny heads off to Buenos Aires to find his brother, the Tetro in the title, who has 'divorced' himself from his entire family. Benny admires his brother and tries to unravel the mystery of why he left him back in the States with an overbearing father despite his promise to come back for him.

The black and white images interspersed with a smattering of colour dance sequences and flashbacks are quite brilliant and show the risk taking confidence of Coppola. The film is enjoyable mainly for the fact that it is shot and feels much different to many other films which are made nowdays. It's great to see a film not out to thrill or follow many of the conventions used in many modern films. It is languorous and nostalgic despite the mobile phones and modern cars that fill the beautiful old streets of Buenos Aires. This was a positive thing as it felt like a very personal and intimate film.

On the other side though the film felt overlong, particularly the last 15 minutes which kind of stretched toward the inevitable. Vincent Gallo and Maribel Verdu were quite brilliant in their parts of Tetro and Miranda, however the central character Benny really did not resinate with me. I found myself not really caring too much about him or where his character was headed. And also for me the dance sequences while beautiful in their own right kind of threw me out of the story and the characters. Maybe this is my fault for being part of the MTV generation though I'm not sure.

All in all though I'm really glad that there is still a genius of a filmmaker out there in Coppola who is prepared to put his heart into personal independent films. I wish while this film itself did not really work for me completely there were more films made like this daring to be different and to tell personal stories. I can recommend watching it but I can't guarantee you'll like it.