Tetro (2009)
Tetro, 2009. Francis Ford Coppola. US.
Very early on in Tetro one character says to another, “You are like a genius without the accomplishment”, in turn summing up varying attitudes to both the filmmaker and the film star at the centre of Tetro. While totally unwarranted, many would happily declare that Coppola hasn’t had a film ‘worthy’ of his own oeuvre in quite some time (speaking as a fan of Youth Without Youth (2007), and now this, I couldn’t disagree more). The use of the term “accomplishment” brings to mind Coppola’s illustrious past, a past made up of genuine greats like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, a past occasionally overshadowed by ambitious failures like One From The Heart and The Godfather Part 3, a past as critically divisive as it is memorable. On the other hand we have Vincent Gallo, an actor who has been described as the embodiment of style over substance. He is a personality before a talent, a one man hype machine who in the past has shown that he can produce scandalous reaction better than he can produce films. Again, as a fan of his works I disagree, but the public image of the actor differs greatly from my own perceived reception of him. And while it may not have had the overt success that it demands, Tetro is a turning point of sorts for both participants. For Coppola the film harks back to his early days; accomplished storytelling, beautiful cinematography, outstanding use of sound and edit (courtesy of longtime collaborator Walter Murch). For Gallo Tetro provides a cinematic experience that lives up to Gallo the concept. He carries the film with only the barest of ego. He isn’t the film’s leading man, in spite of his characters name headlining the movie, but he is definitely its star. His temperamental Tetro waltzes through the film as and when necessary, lighting the frame when he is a part of it, and leaving echoes of his presence when he isn’t.
Although reportedly an insight into the relationship between Coppola and his own father, the sensationalist in thee may read into the line in which one character claims to another that “There is only room for one genius in this family”, given the recent, and ascending success of his daughter, but I’m sure that such speculation is purely just that. It’s an interesting notion though, with Coppola’s commercial fall being mirrored by his daughter’s rise. Let it be said though, that in the eyes of somebody slightly blinded by the genius of Coppola (and admitted fanboy of the filmmaker!) Tetro is a major success. It has a heart that beats to the same pace as that of the cinema of Coppola’s youth, the films of late 1960’s and early 1970’s, yet feels wholly contemporary.
The stark black and white photography on which Tetro rests is visually striking, recalling Coppola’s own previous forays into black and white cinematography with The Conversation and Rumble Fish. While structurally different, the use of colour to push a specific feeling or notion reminds of the occasional use of tinting in Rumble Fish. On a related note, it would seem that the Powell and Pressburger homage really is the affectation of the now, with the colour sequences in Tetro heavily inspired by The Archers’ The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffman, both of which are mentioned by name earlier in the film. Coupled with Martin Scorsese’s references to the work of The Archers in Shutter Island it would seem that their unique brand of technicolor psychosis is very much the vogue for the former movie brats.
