Four out of
Five stars
Running time:
127 min
Francis Ford Coppola makes a superb return to form with this intriguing and poetic journey into a troubled sibling relationship and the tortured psyche of an artistic genius.
What’s it all about?
Naive 17-year-old Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich) travels to Buenos Aires to track down his older brother whilst on shore leave. Bennie finds his dour sibling, Tetro (Vincent Gallo), living with his girlfriend Miranda (Maribel Verdu) and eking out a living by lighting the stage for amateur theatre productions. Bennie clutches to the hope that Tetro will save him from their renowned symphony conductor father but the tortured poet is desperate to be left alone and distance himself from everyone involved in his past.
The Good
Filmed in a stark but inviting manner, Tetro manages to build on a solid premise and deliver some great performances. Young Alden Ehrenreich is rightly being talked up as one to watch and his on-screen relationship with Vincent Gallo sparks of realism from the very first moments. Gallo himself is his most engaging here but a lot of the credit must go to Coppola who has written a wonderful script and directed with aplomb.
The film looks beautiful, with the black and white cinematography feeling perfectly apt for the story. Refreshingly, the plot avoids coming across as pretentious, despite its highbrow take on the importance and integrity of art. Although it has a lengthy runtime, the film never runs out of interesting things to say and also comes up with new ways of conveying these ideas.
The Bad
The abruptness with which the film starts and the aloofness of some of the characters might be a turn-off to casual viewers. Tetro is one of those films where it’s easy to drift out of if you’re not concentrating fully on the screen, but persevere as it’s a thoroughly rewarding experience.
Worth seeing?
It seems preposterous to even say it, but Coppola needed something special to reaffirm his credentials as one of the greatest living directors. Tetro might not be his best work but it’s still an exquisite piece of filmmaking and well worth watching.