Last Blog On The Left

Where does one begin when you attempt to describe “The Brown Bunny” to anyone? It´s pretty hard not to mention the scene where Chloe Sevigny performs fellatio on writer-producer-director-actor-scorer-cinematographer Vincent Gallo. Let´s face it, it´s the reason this movie is known and even though it mostly consist of long sequences of Gallo driving and ends with what is basically a pornographic scene, I really like this film. And when I say that I like it, I don´t mean that I like it in the way that I´ll re-watch it every couple of months, ok? I´ve only seen it twice and I think it´ll be a long, long time before I re-visit it but this is a unique film, make no mistake about that! I don´t think that I´ll ever watch another movie like it again. And it´s all thanks to the mystery that is Vincent Gallo…

Through the 90´s I was familiar with his work as an actor in such films as “Truth or Consequences, NM”, “The Funeral” and “Palookaville” and I found him to be a captivating screen presence. Then in 1998 something happened. He wrote and directed (among other things) “Buffalo ´66”, which is one of the best American films of that decade. Suddenly, Gallo went from being a pretty cool actor to an Orson Welles-like genius. And then he started doing interviews. And let´s just say that he´s been pretty outspoken through the years…

I gladly admit that his image is a big part of why I like the guy. I mean, when you call Roger Ebert, USA´s #1 critic, a “fat pig with the physique of a slave trader” and then put a hex on him, wishing him colon cancer, then you´ve got my attention. I mean, he´s just a fascinating guy. Guys who have the courage to be this outspoken are always fascinating.

Then there´s the fact that he was Johnny Ramone´s best friend and that the two of them bonded over the fact that they are both raving republicans. Or how about the fact that Gallo offers himself as a male escort on his website, for the neat sum of 50.000 US Dollars a night? And for 1.000.000 you can actually buy his sperm but ladies be aware of the fact that “Mr. Gallo maintains the right to refuse sale of his sperm to those of extremely dark complexions. Though a fan of Franco Harris, Derek Jeter, Lenny Kravitz and Lena Horne, Mr. Gallo does not want to be part of that type of integration. In fact, for the next 30 days, he is offering a $50,000 discount to any potential female purchaser who can prove she has naturally blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone who can prove a direct family link to any of the German soldiers of the mid-century will also receive this discount”…

This is all according to the man´s website.

Make of that what you will, but I find the guy extremely captivating. It´s pretty obvious that Vincent Gallo dances to a different drum and this combined with the fact that he´s responsible for two of the most fascinating American films of the last twenty years, makes it pretty hard not to take an interest in what this guy´s up to. Unfortunately, he hasn´t directed a feature since “The Brown Bunny” but it´s that film that I wanna talk to you about today…

Now, before we begin I´m gonna have to warn you: I will be going into detail of what this movie is about and chances are that you might think I am somewhat of a pretentious asshole after this is all over, so bring out them Clover cigarettes, if you got ´em. You have been warned…

Gallo portrays Bud Clay, a motorcycle racer and he´s just lost a race on the East Coast, and is traveling back to Los Angeles to race again. He makes a series of stops, first at a gas station where he gets a girl named Violet to agree to accompany him to LA, only to ditch her at her home minutes later. He stops by the home of his childhood neighbors, who we learn are the parents of his girlfriend Daisy (Chloe Sevigny), where we learn that Bud and Daisy are no longer together, but not why.

The film follows Bud on his journey west. We see him stop at a picnic area, where he comforts a forlorn woman named Lilly, who´s sitting at a table, by making out with her. He leaves as quickly as he came. In Vegas he circles a block to pick up a young prostitute named Rose, who he feeds a fast food lunch and drops off almost as quickly.

In LA, he comes to the house he shared with Daisy. She isn´t home and the house appears abandoned. Bud leaves her a note to come by his hotel room before he leaves for his race the next day. Daisy gets his note, and arrives at his room…

And it is about this point in the movie where we´re treated to that scene that we´ve all heard so much about. The infamous fellatio scene! But let me tell ya this much: this scene is anything but sexually titillating. I mean, if you ever rented this movie just to get a glimpse of a well known actress giving head in order to get some kicks, you´re shit out of luck. This has to be one of the least sexually exhilarating scenes ever filmed, and it´s exactly that which makes it so powerful.

I admit that this scene isn´t exactly important to the story and it doesn´t change the way I feel about it but I do admit that if that blowjob scene wasn´t in there, I don´t think that I would´ve sat through all those long scenes of Bud driving. There´s Bud driving a motorcycle on a racetrack, Bud driving his van in a neighborhood, Bud driving around downtown… When you watch this movie the first time around, it´s the promise of this now almost legendary scene that keeps you watching.

But what I didn´t expect was that the movie would actually affect me the way that it did. You see, this is quite a disturbing scene and as soon as they´re done (SPOILER!!!), Bud crawls up in a fetal position and starts calling her a whore and crying. We then learn that Daisy was raped at a party a year or so earlier and Bud watched the whole thing but didn´t intervene and that she later died in the aftermath of that evening. Which means that we´ve got a “The Sixth Sense”-type twist on our hands here, only it´s oh so much more unsettling.

Now, this is what makes Vincent Gallo such a unique voice in modern filmmaking: he´s the only director I can think of that puts himself in the situation he does and allows himself to portray this kind of needy, whiny type of man. I know that a lot of you are of the opinion that Gallo has an ego the size of the sun and yes, a fair amount of the movie´s running time consists of close ups of Gallo´s face that seem to hint at the fact that this guy is pretty fond of himself, but I don´t think that is the case. I mean, listen to him when he asks the girl at the convenience store to join him on his trip when he says “please”. There´s a whiny, needy tone to his voice, almost every time he talks, that an actor occupied with ego wouldn´t go within a hundred miles of.

It´s the same with his role in “Buffalo ´66”. If you don´t think that his character in that one is kind of an asshole, I´d be surprised. But that´s what makes “The Brown Bunny” so fascinating, as well.

Gallo has a way of showing male pride when it is at its worst, i.e. wounded. Bud Clay is a man who is caught up in a state of romantic grief and we´ve all either been or met this type of guy at some point in our life. It´s the type of guy that no matter how you look at things, he always manage to make things about himself and how hard things are for him at the moment. For instance, watch the hotel room scene with Chloe Sevigny where we learn that Bud watched her being violated, yet didn´t intervene. Somehow he manages to turn this around on her, so it´s her fault that he had to watch her being murdered and it´s her fault that this haunts him to this day. It´s a pretty ugly picture of the male psyche that Gallo paints for the viewer, but it isn´t all that implausible, I think.

He´s constantly challenging the audience to sympathize with this character and I´m not so sure that I do, but I still think that this is pretty powerful filmmaking. This motorcycle racer character is someone who´s so at odds with himself that those scenes with him driving his car, with close ups of Gallo´s face, just reeks of inner turmoil. It´s like Gallo has managed to combine the two public images of himself in one character: the macho guy and the sad, sensitive, almost baby like poet. I mean, whatever this guy says, it sounds like he´s pleading for his life or for mercy.

When you describe this movie to someone, you kinda get the idea that this guy is the King of the road who´s driving around and picking up women to the left and right, only to top it all off with a blowjob but this movie couldn´t be further from that. The scenes with him “coming on” to these women are extremely sad. When he starts making out with the gal at the rest stop (played by former 70´s super model Cheryl Tiegs), it´s hardly the kind of passionate kissing you see from someone overcome with lust. No, it´s the kind of sad, “lonely” kissing coming from someone who´s just yearning for some physical contact. This search for human interaction culminates when Bud picks up that prostitute and drives around town and then buys her a meal, without hardly speaking to her.

This is a sad, sad film and every scene echoes of broken dreams and disappointment. Especially Cheryl Tiegs´. As I watched the scene with her, I got very curious with her character. How did she end up at this rest stop? The way Gallo shoots her it´s very obvious that this is a woman who´s been though some harsh times in life. It´s like this with almost every supporting character: they enter a scene and then exit and you´re left wondering “what the hell happened to this character earlier” and I think that is a sign of some pretty good filmmaking.

This is such a deliberately paced film that no matter how you look at it, the majority of people who watch movies will be infuriated by it. I just think it´s a shame that this film will forever be remembered for “that” scene and not for heartbreaking piece of storytelling it actually is. I don´t know if it would´ve helped if Gallo had done the fellatio scene the “fake” way, instead of going with the real thing. But anyway, it´s there and there´s not much we can do about it.

But that´s why I´m not gonna recommend this film to you because this is the type of movie you get beat up for recommending to folks. And since 95 percent of the people on this planet seem to think that this is one of the worst films ever, chances are you might be one of them. However… what if you are one of those last 5 percents? It´s worth a shot.

When I first watched it, I was actually one of those naysayers but it grew one me. At first I was like “Ok, it´s official: Vincent Gallo has lost his mind! The genius that was responsible for “Buffalo ´66” is forever gone!” but despite this, I found myself thinking about the movie pretty frequently. I couldn´t let it go and when you find yourself thinking about a particular movie weeks after you´ve seen it, then maybe you should give it another shot, right? “The Brown Bunny” is like a sad, sad song that you can´t get out of your head and you keep humming it, even though you don´t want to.

Until next time: take scare!

Thomas

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 5:28 pm and is filed under Drama, Film. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.