I can respect any filmmaker that steers away from typical Hollywood conventions. It's not hard for a minimalist film to look so enticing when the majority of films produced are laced with big budgets of eye candy and formulaic plots.
The Brown Bunny should be admired for its risky non-narrative style. It caused furious reactions at the Cannes film festival which obviously helped generate lots of press and attention. Fans of the avante-garde will have to think "Oh! Its one of those films! The critics didn't get it. It must be ahead of its time!" That may be true but what's unsettling about the reviews is that they influenced director Vincent Gallo to cut the film in half leaving it more concise and marketable for mass audiences. Well I don't like to form opinions based on unnecessary gossip but I can't help but be bothered by it. If Gallo were a visionary filmmaker why would he drastically re-edit a film just after its premiere? I know this has happened many times with other directors but there is a part of me that has a hard time taking Gallo seriously. It's not his acting. I can see he has a quality that is rare and unique to most other contemporaries. His beautiful acting range is evident in his previous film "Buffalo 66". I just sense from his egocentric attitude of being the star, writer, director, producer and the fact that he's in 95% of every shot in the film, that he is just being creatively oblivious.
Most artists will tell you that self-portraits are the most difficult subjects to tackle because they involve erasing your preconceived notions about who you think you are to showing how everyone knows who you are.
Nobody said that "The Brown Bunny" is autobiographical but it certainly feels personal. This film reminded me of Dennis Hopper's "The Last Movie", an unfinished existential sequel to the 1969 film "Easy Rider". Hopper and Gallo seem similar in their egos and their American cowboy persona's but there seems to be a void here. I'm not sure a longer movie would be the answer. All I know is that Vincent Gallo's character Blake should look more pathetic and less cool to his audience. I may see this again and see something different. For now, I am tired of seeing another road movie that really looks rehashed and broken down for its artistic value. This just doesn't feel self conscious. It feels clueless and arrogant.
The Brown Bunny should be admired for its risky non-narrative style. It caused furious reactions at the Cannes film festival which obviously helped generate lots of press and attention. Fans of the avante-garde will have to think "Oh! Its one of those films! The critics didn't get it. It must be ahead of its time!" That may be true but what's unsettling about the reviews is that they influenced director Vincent Gallo to cut the film in half leaving it more concise and marketable for mass audiences. Well I don't like to form opinions based on unnecessary gossip but I can't help but be bothered by it. If Gallo were a visionary filmmaker why would he drastically re-edit a film just after its premiere? I know this has happened many times with other directors but there is a part of me that has a hard time taking Gallo seriously. It's not his acting. I can see he has a quality that is rare and unique to most other contemporaries. His beautiful acting range is evident in his previous film "Buffalo 66". I just sense from his egocentric attitude of being the star, writer, director, producer and the fact that he's in 95% of every shot in the film, that he is just being creatively oblivious.
Most artists will tell you that self-portraits are the most difficult subjects to tackle because they involve erasing your preconceived notions about who you think you are to showing how everyone knows who you are.
Nobody said that "The Brown Bunny" is autobiographical but it certainly feels personal. This film reminded me of Dennis Hopper's "The Last Movie", an unfinished existential sequel to the 1969 film "Easy Rider". Hopper and Gallo seem similar in their egos and their American cowboy persona's but there seems to be a void here. I'm not sure a longer movie would be the answer. All I know is that Vincent Gallo's character Blake should look more pathetic and less cool to his audience. I may see this again and see something different. For now, I am tired of seeing another road movie that really looks rehashed and broken down for its artistic value. This just doesn't feel self conscious. It feels clueless and arrogant.