Buffalo '66 (1998) *****
Buffalo '66 (1998). What a strange and wonderful film. It's hard to view Vincent Gallo as anything but pretentious and narcissistic, but there is an undoubtable genius to this film, which is very difficult to classify or describe. Which is why I give it 5 stars because honestly I don't know how else to rate it.
I'd seen Buffalo '66 at least three times previously (the last time being exactly five years ago) and I never before realized that Christina Ricci was only 17 when she starred in the film (which I should have been able to put together since she and I share the same birthday, year and all). Nor did I realize that Gallo was 36 when he made the film which is pretty icky.
I also don't pay much attention to movie stars and their personal lives, though I knew that Gallo didn't get on well with cast and crew (many of whom intentionally never worked with him again). Then there was The Brown Bunny (2003) and all that surrounded that production, of course. I stopped paying attention to Gallo after I saw that film (he hasn't had another "released" feature since then), outside of his performance in Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro (2009) (review), which I really enjoy.
Gallo’s character in Buffalo '66—Billy Brown—is an insufferable douchebag who treats Ricci's Layla like absolute garbage, yet she (mind bogglingly) stays by his side, continues to be sweet to him, and somehow, impossibly, actually falls in love with him. I'm not saying that mean people don't deserve love and that maybe, just maybe it can turn them around, but when a relationship commences with kidnapping, continual verbal abuse, and rejection, you'd have to find a saint to treat you the way Layla treats Billy in return for those transgressions.
And yet, though she's clearly a lonely soul the same as Billy, Layla doesn't necessarily come off as a character lacking self respect to the degree that Billy does. I know I speak for probably all of Buffalo '66's fans when I say that I can't imagine what it would be like with another actress in the Layla role. Ricci's bowling alley tap routine is one of the absolute highlights—a brief, tender, slightly awkward, and perfectly imperfect moment set to King Crimson's dreamy ballad "Moonchild". It's one of only a few "staged" moments in a film that otherwise feels very raw.
Gallo's real-life douchebaggery and vanity aside, I still dearly love this film. The weirdness of the plot and situations combined with the repetitiveness, specificity, and oddity of the dialogue meets like a cross between Scorsese, Tarantino, Lynch, and Wenders (particularly 1984’s Paris, Texas (review)). The sad but broadly comedic scenes with Billy's parents (Anjelica Huston and Ben Gazzara, both killing it) are pure gold. The grainy yet soft 35 mm cinematography and the color palette really sell the cold Buffalo, NY setting and give the whole film a "home movie" quality. And the soundtrack and score—key to certain scenes, and appropriately absent much of the time—nail the tone.
I'd seen Buffalo '66 at least three times previously (the last time being exactly five years ago) and I never before realized that Christina Ricci was only 17 when she starred in the film (which I should have been able to put together since she and I share the same birthday, year and all). Nor did I realize that Gallo was 36 when he made the film which is pretty icky.
I also don't pay much attention to movie stars and their personal lives, though I knew that Gallo didn't get on well with cast and crew (many of whom intentionally never worked with him again). Then there was The Brown Bunny (2003) and all that surrounded that production, of course. I stopped paying attention to Gallo after I saw that film (he hasn't had another "released" feature since then), outside of his performance in Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro (2009) (review), which I really enjoy.
Gallo’s character in Buffalo '66—Billy Brown—is an insufferable douchebag who treats Ricci's Layla like absolute garbage, yet she (mind bogglingly) stays by his side, continues to be sweet to him, and somehow, impossibly, actually falls in love with him. I'm not saying that mean people don't deserve love and that maybe, just maybe it can turn them around, but when a relationship commences with kidnapping, continual verbal abuse, and rejection, you'd have to find a saint to treat you the way Layla treats Billy in return for those transgressions.
And yet, though she's clearly a lonely soul the same as Billy, Layla doesn't necessarily come off as a character lacking self respect to the degree that Billy does. I know I speak for probably all of Buffalo '66's fans when I say that I can't imagine what it would be like with another actress in the Layla role. Ricci's bowling alley tap routine is one of the absolute highlights—a brief, tender, slightly awkward, and perfectly imperfect moment set to King Crimson's dreamy ballad "Moonchild". It's one of only a few "staged" moments in a film that otherwise feels very raw.
Gallo's real-life douchebaggery and vanity aside, I still dearly love this film. The weirdness of the plot and situations combined with the repetitiveness, specificity, and oddity of the dialogue meets like a cross between Scorsese, Tarantino, Lynch, and Wenders (particularly 1984’s Paris, Texas (review)). The sad but broadly comedic scenes with Billy's parents (Anjelica Huston and Ben Gazzara, both killing it) are pure gold. The grainy yet soft 35 mm cinematography and the color palette really sell the cold Buffalo, NY setting and give the whole film a "home movie" quality. And the soundtrack and score—key to certain scenes, and appropriately absent much of the time—nail the tone.
Buffalo '66 has a few wonky scenes, a ridiculously unbelievable fantasy of a premise, and an absurd redemption for the protagonist in the film's literal final minute. But in spite of all that—or perhaps because of it—it's a movie like no other and remains one of my Top 100 Films.
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