Tetro (2009)

Bennie travels to Buenos Aires to find his long-missing older brother, a once-promising writer who is now a remnant of his former self. Bennie's discovery of his brother's near-finished play might hold the answer to understanding their shared past and renewing their bond.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Mauricio Kartun (verse "Fausta"), Francis Ford Coppola

Stars:

Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdú

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent Gallo	...	Angelo 'Tetro' Tetrocini
Alden Ehrenreich	...	Bennie
Maribel Verdú	...	Miranda
Silvia Pérez	...	Silvana
Rodrigo De la Serna	...	José (as Rodrigo De La Serna)
Erica Rivas	...	Ana (as Érica Rivas)
Mike Amigorena	...	Abelardo
Lucas Di Conza	...	Young Tetro
Adriana Mastrángelo	...	Ángela
Klaus Maria Brandauer	...	Carlo / Alfie Tetrocini
Leticia Brédice	...	Josefina
Sofía Gala	...	María Luisa
Jean-François Casanovas	...	Enrique
Carmen Maura	...	Alone
Francesca De Sapio	...	Amalia

Storyline

The week of his 18th birthday, Bennie, who's a waiter on a cruise ship, has a layover in Buenos Aires. He seeks out his older brother, Tetro, whom he hasn't seen in years. Tetro, who lives with Miranda, is a burned-out case; he's hot and cold toward his brother, introducing him as a "friend," refusing to talk about their family, telling Bennie not to tell Miranda who their father is. Thoughts of their father cast a shadow over both brothers. Who is he, and what past has Tetro left behind? Bennie finds pages of Tetro's unfinished novel, and he pushes both to know his own history and to become a part of his brother's life again. What can come of Bennie's pushing?

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Plot Keywords:

ship | writer | cruise ship | 18th birthday | play | 

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Taglines:

Every family has a past.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexuality and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA Argentina Spain Italy

Language:

English Spanish French

Release Date:

26 June 2009 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Segreti di famiglia

Filming Locations:

Argentina

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$30,504 (USA) (12 June 2009)

Gross:

$438,350 (USA) (21 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Zoetrope, Zoetrope Argentina, Tornasol Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Francis Ford Coppola in an interview with Empire magazine, this is what he considers to be "the most beautiful film [he's] ever made", and a very "personal" project.

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Goofs

Early in the movie Tetro stumbles into the kitchen with a broken leg and knocks over some furniture while lighting a cigarette using a burner on the stove. he ignites the burner by just turning the knob on the stove. A few minutes later Miranda must use a match to light a burner on the same stove-top.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
[Maria meets Bennie for the first time]
Miranda: Hola...
[smiles]

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Connections

Featured in ¿Qué fue de tu vida?: Rodrigo De la Serna (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Clemenza Di Tito, K.621: Parto, Parto"
(1791) (uncredited)
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

User Reviews

Stunning; Absoltuely stunning...

I am not a film major. Hell I've never even been to college. Through my horrible grammar and misspellings, you will take note of how I even barely got through high school.

There are films out there that have puzzled me (anything by David Lynch), films that have made me laugh (Dumb and Dumber was my favorite) and foreign films that I once considered to be the way films should be made (Let the Right One In, Ichi the Killer). I've seen films that have bored me (Gummo, Brown Bunny) and have had my guilty pleasure(unfortunately, Transformers 2.

But never, NEVER in my life have I seen a film that has engrossed me like this has. I have never walked out of a theatre in absolute awe. Never have I truly been able to say that a film made me laugh, made me cry, made me FEEL true emotions for a character. Such beautiful cinematography, such bold yet unobtrusive dialog... no one character "steals the show".

I sat in that theatre for 143 minutes and not once was I bored. Not once was I annoyed by a character, or a one-liner. Not once was my jaw not dropped.

This film is what a film should be... what films were meant to be. There are movies out there for entertainment but every once in a while, there is a film that comes along that changes the way you feel about entering a theatre all together.

I viewed this film with 10 other people in a small college theatre that will only play this film for one week. And the only reason I came to watch it was because my girlfriend absolutely adores Vincent Gallo (which he is amazing in) and no other reasons than that.

I don't know what else I could say about this film that could praise it any more that I have. I love this film. It's the greatest movie I've ever seen. That may not seem like much to you since you all have possibly seen similar movies in film class, or through word of mouth. But for the average joe such as myself, this film is a masterpiece.

Bravo, Copolla. Bravo.