Professional motorcycle racer Bud Clay heads from New Hampshire to California to race again. Along the way he meets various needy women who provide him with the cure to his own loneliness, but only a certain woman from his past will truly satisfy him.
After being released from prison, Billy is set to visit his parents with his wife, whom he does not actually have. This provokes Billy to act out, as he kidnaps a girl and forces her to act as his wife for the visit.
Director:
Vincent Gallo
Stars:
Vincent Gallo,
Christina Ricci,
Ben Gazzara
Promises Written in Water is an extremely stripped down abstract romantic story of a man and a woman, both in crisis. Kevin (Vincent Gallo) is a long-time, professional assassin, ... See full summary »
Director:
Vincent Gallo
Stars:
Vincent Gallo,
Delfine Bafort,
Hope Tomaselli
An actress finally has the courage to leave her abusive boyfriend even though she loves him. He's been isolated in a hotel trying to write a book. The shock of her leaving causes something strange to happen to him.
After racing in New Hampshire, the lonely motorcycle racer Bud Clay drives his van in a five-day journey to California for the next race. Along his trip, he meets fan, lonely women, prostitutes, but he leaves them since he is actually looking for the woman he loves, Daisy. He goes to her house and leaves a note telling where he is lodged. Out of the blue, Daisy appears in his hotel room and soon he learns why he cannot find her.Written by
Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Gallo had been infatuated with Winona Ryder since they worked together on The House of the Spirits (1993). He cast her in the role as Daisy but ultimately fired her due to on-set conflict. See more »
Goofs
When driving through St. Louis, it shows him crossing the Mississippi River from Illinois to Missouri via the Poplar Street Bridge. Soon after, he's shown driving on Hwy 40 through Saint Louis, but in the opposite direction. He's actually traveling back towards the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
[Bud walks up to a young woman, working behind the counter in a gas station store]
Bud Clay:
Hi.
Violet:
Hello... Did you just come from the race track?
Bud Clay:
Mmhm.
Violet:
Did you win?
Bud Clay:
No.
Violet:
Oh.
Bud Clay:
How much is this?
Violet:
$2... Will you be racing again?
[...] See more »
Alternate Versions
Since its world premiere at Cannes the movie has been re-edited although the sex scenes remain intact. The version that premiered theatrically in the US is 26 minutes shorter than the Cannes cut. See more »
Vincent Gallo According to the credits is a man with many ( probably too many ) talents. While I haven't seen any of his other films, this one lacks a, direction. b, editing c, cinematography d, intelligent script. Vincent Gallo as an actor acts well as a depressed person, but that is all. When he brakes down with his former wife or girlfriend he utters a sound which could be credited to a whingeing cat, but hardly to a man which I suppose he represents. The repetitiousness of the scenes,his portraits in the mirrors show that as a director he admires himself as an actor, but I do not consider this as a positive.
When I watched the first scene for about 15 minutes which is a motor circle race, I thought I put in the wrong DVD about motor cycle racing. I wished that I switched it off at that point. The rest of the film I watched for curiosity only. The sex scene sticks out from the film, like his prick from his trousers. It would fit into a porno film, but not what is considered an art-house film.
Just because there is hardly an intelligent sentence in the script, and luckily there are only a few sentences in the film, it does not make it a work of art. This is probably one of the worse films I have seen in the past 50 years
Andrew Barry
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Vincent Gallo According to the credits is a man with many ( probably too many ) talents. While I haven't seen any of his other films, this one lacks a, direction. b, editing c, cinematography d, intelligent script. Vincent Gallo as an actor acts well as a depressed person, but that is all. When he brakes down with his former wife or girlfriend he utters a sound which could be credited to a whingeing cat, but hardly to a man which I suppose he represents. The repetitiousness of the scenes,his portraits in the mirrors show that as a director he admires himself as an actor, but I do not consider this as a positive.
When I watched the first scene for about 15 minutes which is a motor circle race, I thought I put in the wrong DVD about motor cycle racing. I wished that I switched it off at that point. The rest of the film I watched for curiosity only. The sex scene sticks out from the film, like his prick from his trousers. It would fit into a porno film, but not what is considered an art-house film.
Just because there is hardly an intelligent sentence in the script, and luckily there are only a few sentences in the film, it does not make it a work of art. This is probably one of the worse films I have seen in the past 50 years
Andrew Barry