Tetro (BD)

“Tetro” (2009) marks the return of Francis Ford Coppola as a solo writer since the critically claimed, “The Conversation” (1974). With the success of films like “The Godfather” (1972), “The Conversation” (1974), “The Godfather 2” (1974), and “Apocalypse Now” (1979), Coppola was hailed as the greatest American director alive during the 70s. In the process, Coppola also won a total of five Oscar awards, three of which were awarded in the Adapted Screenplay category: “Patton” (1970), “The Godfather,” and “The Godfather 2.” There is no doubt that Coppola possesses immense talent in writing screenplays. Perhaps this is the reason why he is back not only in the director’s chair but at the writing desk, scripting the characters and story of “Tetro.” Evidently, the main character of the film is a writing whiz, too.

The story begins when seventeen year old, Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich) arrives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to search for his older brother, Tetro (Vincent Gallo), who has been missing for a decade. After seeing Bennie, Tetro starts distancing himself by providing no details on why he was missing for so long. With no answers to his queries, Bennie finds an emotional connection with his sister-in-law, Miranda (Maribel Verdu), who is more welcoming to his presence in the house. One day after being left alone in the house, Bennie stumbles across a hidden suitcase containing plays written by Tetro. Soon, Tetro finds about this and asks Bennie to leave the house. While away from Tetro and Miranda, Bennie starts working on Tetro’s play called “Wander Lust.” Somehow, Bennie finds appropriate links and is able to participate in the Pantagonia Festival. Later, he finds out that Tetro’s play is one of the five finalists for the Los Parricidas Prize. Tetro knows the ending of the play, which, in fact, also becomes the final moments in the film.

“Tetro” is Coppola’s most stylized movie ever. While movies like “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now” were shot in a documentary style with a gritty and realistic look, “Tetro,” on the other hand, is seemingly too beautiful. It appears that Coppola is experimenting with the black-and-white palette with a fair degree of success in the technical aspects. Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare’s photography is breathtaking and an absolute marvel to look at. He captures perfectly the busy streets of Buenos Aires with serene and beautiful landscapes that appear later on in the film. It truly adds up to an immersive experience. In fact, his photography is probably the main reason to see this beautifully shot film.

Moving along in the technical field, the director’s use of the letterbox format to depict sequences in the color mode in Tetro’s past draws a big question mark from me. First, I like the idea of how the color aspect plays out and gives us the feeling that life was colorful for Tetro in the past. But the letterbox format does not pan out so well with the overall film format. Probably, since the narration is from Tetro’s plays, it seems like Coppola was trying to give these sequences a play-like appearance.

Story-wise, “Tetro” is a mixed bag. Bernie’s arrival and Tetro’s emotional predicament with his brother form the foundation of the entire film. Questions like: Why Bernie is here, why has Tetro been missing for a decade, and how are these brothers related provide for something of an intriguing narrative. However, the film takes its time to uncover the hidden aspects of the story. The problem stems from the fact that the movie never shows Tetro’s real talent and is presented to us from the eyes of Bernie. As revealed in the letterbox sequences, there existed a rivalry between Tetro and his father, Carlo (Kluas Maria Brandauer), because of Tetro’s interest in writing; however, it is never exemplified to a point where we feel emotionally attached to Tetro.

Bernie finds Tetro’s hidden plays and stories, which after all, are a narration of Tetro’s past events that build up as a series of disappointments with Carlo. Further, the narrative banks solely on these time-capsule sequences to provide the past and current state of things in Tetro’s life. After his unresolved rivalry with his father, Tetro shunned his writing talent. In spite of this, I would love to have seen Tetro carry out his writing talent in Buenos Aires; that might have provided a more satisfying and heartfelt experience. After all, Tetro’s father moved to New York, and his isolation from Carlo would have led Tetro to write more poetic plays. Maybe the disappointment with his father was obviously greater than his writing skill. Nonetheless, this aspect in the story is emotionally underwhelming.

In the performance department, Vincent Gallo delivers a fantastic performance. As long as he is playing the character of Tetro, he is amazingly competent and articulate, but as soon as he is confronted with the scenario of revealing a secret about his past (later in the climax), he comes across as a little confused. Maybe it is because of predictable and clichéd lines in the script. The end result is so melodramatic that it suddenly warrants your attention after a feeble middle act. Having said this, there are still a lot of redeeming qualities in “Tetro,” and, after all, this is Coppola’s movie. Just don’t expect from too much from “Tetro” as Coppola employs an abundance of style over substance.

Video:

Lionsgate presents the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded in an AVC format. There is no doubt that this transfer does an excellent job presenting the film’s captivating cinematography. As expected, there is a perfect balance between light and black tones, with wonderful contrast . The shadows are rendered clearly even in challenging night shots. One shot pretty much sums up the quality of the entire transfer: a night shot of a roundabout with traffic at its peak and nearby buildings comprised of various shades of gray. This shot brings the two qualities to forefront--sharpness and detail, both of which are consistent throughout the running time. There is a bit of textural grain during the night scenes, which we might expect. Overall, this pristine transfer does justice to the film’s stylish photography.

Audio:

We get a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, which provides a satisfying sonic experience. First, the movie is mostly a dialogue-driven affair. With this track, the dialogue gets a boost in mid tones. Moreover, the dialogue is crisp and clear and is primarily driven by the center channel. However, during the climax and the nightclub scene, the rear channels work efficiently to provide an arena-like feeling. The film’s soundtrack during emotional scenes plays out perfectly to switch the overall mood and context.

Extras:

This Blu-ray release has a number of insightful extras.

First, we get a regular audio commentary with director Francis Ford Coppola and actor Alden Ehrenreich. It’s an interesting track as Coppola explains his working style, why he picked Buenos Aires, and how he created the story.

Following the commentary, there is an interview with the director of music, Osvaldo Golijov, who presents his thoughts on musical compositions and soundtrack for the movie. He specifically mentions how the music in the movie captured love and reconciliation between the two brothers. He discusses his working relationship with Coppola and the intense music-recording sessions.

Up next we have an interview with the cinematographer of the film, Mihai Malaimare, who talks about various high-contrast compositions and the reason for picking the black & white palette for the movie.

Following this interview, we get two short interviews with Francis Ford Coppola. In the first interview, “The Ballet,” he discusses how the ballet shot was motivated by “The Red Shoes” (1948). In the second interview, “The Rehearsal Process,” he talks about the importance of rehearsing a scenes or dialogue before the actual shooting. Vincent Gallo presents his opinion on Cappola’s process.

Ending the interviews, we get a short featurette, “La Colifata: Siempre Fui Loco,” which is basically shot at a psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires. Here, we see mentally challenged people performing entertaining acts in the form of music, singing, and discussions. Coppola decided to shoot at this location after reading about the hospital in the New York Times newspaper.

Finally, finishing off the extras, we have a short nightclub performance, “Fausta,” that is taken directly from the movie, but a bit different.

Parting Thoughts:

“Tetro” is a technical smorgasbord--its cinematography and locations are all well done. Indeed, “Tetro” weaves its magic with a beautiful black-and-white canvas, yet it leaves a lot to be desired in the writing department. The script is uneven, and by the time we discover the truth about Tetro, the movie becomes painstakingly melodramatic. This film is a mediocre return for Coppola, but not in a fully expendable way. Nonetheless, “Tetro” should be taken as an experimental piece in Coppola’s filmography.

Final Rating:
Video = 10/10
Audio = 9/10
Extras = 8/10
Film = 6/10