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?

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Every family has a past.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

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

Adriana Mastrangelo, an Uruguayan opera singer who settled in Buenos Aires, has a cameo as herself as the singer at a party.

---

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.

---

Quotes

[from trailer]
Tetro: You stay away from me, got it?
Bennie: Whatever you say, Angie...
Tetro: Angie is dead. My name is Tetro.

---

Connections

References The Red Shoes (1948)

---

Soundtracks

"Symphony No. 36, K.425: Andante"
(1783) (uncredited)
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Karl Böhm and the Berliner Philharmoniker
Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon

User Reviews

Coppola back on form

17 year-old Bennie works as a waiter on a cruiseship. When the ship suffers engine difficulties and docks in Buenos Aires, he uses the opportunity to attempt to reconnect with his estranged brother Tetro, a once promising writer. He is welcomed with open arms by Tetro's girlfriend, Miranda. She longs to know the truth behind her boyfriends past and what made him the misanthrope he is today. Tetro is hostile towards his brother, his plan was to never see any of his family again, and so keeps him at arms length. Bennie discovers an incomplete play, written in code whilst his brother was undergoing psychiatric treatment. He decides to finish the play and enter it in a festival run by Argentina's most powerful critic, Alone. Faced with this upheaval, Tetro is forced to come to terms with his relationship to his younger brother and his father, a famous conductor.

Tetro is, at its core, a film about family, in particular the relationship between brothers and their Father. A theme Francis Ford Coppola has immersed himself in before, most notably in The Godfather and Rumble Fish. Through a series of flashbacks we are given a glimpse of major events in Tetro's youth, his relationship with his father (played by Klaus Brandauer) and his subsequent departure. There are huge family secrets known only to Tetro and revealed to Bennie in an ending which echoes great literary and operatic works. Coppolas love of opera and theater is stamped all over the script and the city of Buenos Aires seems to be the perfect background in which to set this story.

Shot stunningly in digital monochrome with colour flashbacks, it has some aesthetic similarities to Rumble Fish. Coppola and cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. reportedly site On The Waterfront and La Notte as big influences on the films visual style. There are certainly elements of both here, with the film also retaining its visual sense of self. It is operatic in both its narrative and its mise-en-scene. The idea of cutting between colour and monochrome as well as changing aspect ratios sounds as if it would be jarring, and it typically is. But for the purposes of Tetro it works perfectly.

Seen as a controversial choice by some, Vincent Gallo brings an edge to the titular character that some other actors may have lacked. However it is newcomer Alden Ehrenreich who steals the show as Bennie, a wayward teenager looking for guidance and approval. Maribel Verdu, as Miranda, provides the conduit between the two in a typicaly solid performance.

Hollywood is littered with once great directors who have fallen from grace, which makes Tetro all the more remarkable as a return to form from one of the greatest, Francis Ford Coppola.