A young boy, Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich), a waiter on a cruise ship that is temporarily down for repairs in Buenos Aries, takes the opportunity to call on his older brother Tetro (Vincent Gallo) who has exiled himself in Argentina to escape some bad things in his past. Tetro wants nothing to do with his family, including Bennie; initially he even refuses to come out of his room to meet him. Through a complicated set of events, the estranged Tetro finally comes to the inevitable reconciliation with Bennie. In the process we get details about why Tetro has taken the path that he has.
Tetro's girlfriend Miranda is played by Maribel Verdu in a consistently appealing performance. At times I thought that Ehrenreich may be destined to be the next great young actor, but at other times he seemed like a teenager just reading his lines. I do think we are going to see more of this attractive actor. In the spirit of full disclosure I have to admit that my comments on this movie are biased by a visceral dislike of Vince Gallo. Gallo plays Tetro as a most unlikeable character. Throughout the movie I puzzled as to why either Bennie or Miranda would hang around Tetro, given his fits of temper and general unpleasant behavior. Klaus Maria Brandauer, as Tetro's father in flashbacks, plays the role of an egocentric and manipulative symphony orchestra conductor to the hilt.
The story becomes more absurd and implausible as the movie goes along. Are we to believe that Bennie takes the scrawls of Tetro, that have to be read backwards with a mirror, and turns them into a prize-winning play? Why does Tetro wait until he does to reveal his true relationship to Bennie? And in such a melodramatic manner? And what was with the all-powerful cultural critic named "Alone?" On the one hand we are told that Alone had impeded Tetro's career because of her criticisms, but on the other hand we are told that Tetro had never published. How does one criticize what has never existed?
Filming the flashbacks in color (using what appears to be a faded red filter) is an interesting touch. Most of the flashbacks are operatic in nature, and some effects left me speculating about their relevance, like the one scene that starts out with dancers on a stage and then has an ocean lapping onto stage left. Nice effect, but what is the meaning of it?
This could easily be staged as a play and the way the movie is filmed reminded me a lot of the filming of "A Streetcar Named Desire." And there are elements of imitating "8 1/2" as well, particularly the way that Alone and her entourage are filmed.
As a lover of black and white, I found the excellent use of that medium in this movie a pure delight, but in the end I was less than enthusiastic about the film in general.
Tetro's girlfriend Miranda is played by Maribel Verdu in a consistently appealing performance. At times I thought that Ehrenreich may be destined to be the next great young actor, but at other times he seemed like a teenager just reading his lines. I do think we are going to see more of this attractive actor. In the spirit of full disclosure I have to admit that my comments on this movie are biased by a visceral dislike of Vince Gallo. Gallo plays Tetro as a most unlikeable character. Throughout the movie I puzzled as to why either Bennie or Miranda would hang around Tetro, given his fits of temper and general unpleasant behavior. Klaus Maria Brandauer, as Tetro's father in flashbacks, plays the role of an egocentric and manipulative symphony orchestra conductor to the hilt.
The story becomes more absurd and implausible as the movie goes along. Are we to believe that Bennie takes the scrawls of Tetro, that have to be read backwards with a mirror, and turns them into a prize-winning play? Why does Tetro wait until he does to reveal his true relationship to Bennie? And in such a melodramatic manner? And what was with the all-powerful cultural critic named "Alone?" On the one hand we are told that Alone had impeded Tetro's career because of her criticisms, but on the other hand we are told that Tetro had never published. How does one criticize what has never existed?
Filming the flashbacks in color (using what appears to be a faded red filter) is an interesting touch. Most of the flashbacks are operatic in nature, and some effects left me speculating about their relevance, like the one scene that starts out with dancers on a stage and then has an ocean lapping onto stage left. Nice effect, but what is the meaning of it?
This could easily be staged as a play and the way the movie is filmed reminded me a lot of the filming of "A Streetcar Named Desire." And there are elements of imitating "8 1/2" as well, particularly the way that Alone and her entourage are filmed.
As a lover of black and white, I found the excellent use of that medium in this movie a pure delight, but in the end I was less than enthusiastic about the film in general.