Review: Tetro

I'm trying not to think about it being September 1st today.  Nor will I think about how envious I am of all the lucky students who got to return to their studies on this crisp, beautiful, late summer day.  Nor will I think about how I nearly got run over by a school bus when I, car-less and alone, attempted to walk the dog to the vet to see what he could do about the poor thing's seasonal allergies.  Instead, I'll turn my attention to this fabulously artsy movie I saw over the weekend. 

Tetro was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, arguably one of the greatest film makers of all time.  Personally, I love the first two Godfathers (especially part one), enjoy The Outsiders, and have very little tolerance for Apocalypse Now (mainly due to my dislike of war movies/sausagefests - but I still recognize it to be an extremely well done film).  Seeing as we were driving through a part of the country where they show movies like Tetro, I figured we may as well stop by and check it out.

The title character in Tetro is a thwarted writer and American ex-patriate living in Argentina.  Tetro is all the things one imagines a "genius writer" to be: blocked, bitter, tormented, and stormy.  His life is further complicated when his 17-year-old brother, Bennie, arrives on his doorstep and demands a relationship.  Incidentally, Bennie is also an aspiring writer, and a whirlwind of heated emotions explode as the he tries to literally interpret Tetro's work and bring it to the outside world.  A huge part of the film also centres around Tetro's relationship with his father, whom he (of course) resents more than life itself.  According to Manohla of The New York Times, Tetro is semi-autobiographical; Tetro's maestro father, Carlo, is semi-representative of FFC's father, Carmine, also a musician.  I have to wonder, though, would FFC then be Tetro or Bennie?  The obvious answer is Tetro, but a significant twist at the end of the movie makes me suspect otherwise.

Like The Great Man, The Squid and the Whale, and quite a few other things I've read or seen lately, Tetro deals with the fine line between creativity and plagiarism in art.  As one who has lately been embarking on certain creative endeavors, I must say I find of the popularity of this theme somewhat comforting.  It's good to know I'm not the only one who suffers from "gee-I-hope-no-who-reads-this-has-read/seen-X" sort of anxieties.

Above all, Tetro is a beautiful film.  It is shot in black and white, and succeeds at exuding the sort of abstract/artsy aura its characters (and director) cherish and strive to achieve.  It was actually kind of refreshing to see a new black and white movie; the fact that we watched it at the little ghetto-chic theatre in Yorkville where you can feel the subway rumble by under your feet definitely added to the experience.  I think I liked the aesthetic idea of the movie more than I did the film itself - but that's not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion.  It's very extravagant and pretentious, and certainly not for everyone.  If you're an artsy like me, though, and you're lucky enough to live in a city where it's playing, I say get yourself to a theatre this instant before it leaves town and becomes impossible to find!