Vincent Gallo is worth watching when his aggression gives way to embarrassment. As actor and director, he can make a man's need for affection painfully clear; he is less convincing when he expects a woman to supply it without asking what she wants.
Fi1m perspective
In Buffalo '66 (1998), Billy Brown brings a kidnapped tap dancer home to pose as his wife because he wants his family to welcome him. Gallo plays him with an exhausting energy, letting the demand for affection become embarrassing enough to expose the need beneath it. We laughed at the family visit and were surprised to feel sorry for Billy, because his desperate attempt to secure a welcome is so plainly inadequate. Gallo is good at making aggression look like a man's last available means of asking for something.
His breakthrough, Buffalo '66, gave him several ways to shape our response: he wrote, directed, starred in and composed the music. His control of tone helps the humour survive alongside the discomfort. With The Brown Bunny (2003), a road film about grief, he took on cinematography and editing as well. The long takes and minimal storytelling pushed his preference for staying with an isolated man further.
Some of the most effective work in Buffalo '66 comes from his collaborators. Cinematographer Lance Acord's stark compositions leave the family exposed, while production designer Gideon Ponte makes their home an unwelcoming place. The formal staging makes even their attempts at bluffing look awkward. The control sometimes becomes a problem: Gallo arranges the family so insistently as grotesques that they become harder to believe.
Christina Ricci gives the film something its writing does not reliably provide. As Layla, she makes affection for Billy seem possible from one exchange to the next, without resolving what she wants for herself. Gallo and co-writer Alison Bagnall devote much more attention to his wishes than hers, and the romance asks for indulgence we cannot quite grant. Ricci keeps Layla from becoming merely his consolation, but she should not have to do so much of that work unaided.
He has also put himself in another director's hands, taking a lead role in Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro (2009). His wordless lead performance in Essential Killing (2010) makes a useful counterpoint to Billy's exhausting demands. Start with Buffalo '66, but keep an eye on Ricci whenever Billy insists on being the centre of attention.
Biography
Vincent Gallo is an American actor, director, screenwriter and musician. Born on 11 April 1961 in Buffalo, New York, he began his career in the New York art and music scenes before moving into film.
He is best known for Buffalo '66 (1998), in which he starred as Billy Brown, and which he also wrote, directed and scored. Other notable film roles include appearances in GoodFellas (1990), Arizona Dream (1993) and The House of the Spirits (1993). He wrote, directed and starred in The Brown Bunny (2003).
Gallo received the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Essential Killing (2010).
