Buffalo ’66 — Vincent Gallo’s Landmark Indie Debut
On the infamous Vincent Gallo’s great first film.
There’s no doubting that a large part of Vincent Gallo’s infamy boils down to his public appearances as something of an outcast art rebel. Gallo has built up a reputation as arrogant, mean and often outright odd, and considering that his first acting appearance was in a film titled ‘Vincent Gallo as Flying Christ’, a micro-film that sees… Vincent Gallo quite literally become the titular flying Christ, this doesn’t really come as a surprise.
However, Gallo’s performances showed another side entirely. Rather than the side that can be seen on his personal website, in his performances it becomes clear that Gallo is entirely dedicated to the arts. His first love was in painting, but at a certain point he transitioned to acting and later to directing. After learning about direction from many of the all time greats (often giving great performances in their work) including Coppola, Scorsese, Claire Denis and Abel Ferrara just to name a few — Gallo would go on to make his first (of two) feature length film(s), Buffalo ’66. (This doesn’t count Promises Written In Water, as it was unfortunately only screened once at Cannes in 2010 and remains unreleased.)
