Tetro

The work of a man who knows that looking directly into the light can be deadly. In a combination of theatricality, archaicism, allusions, Freudian schemes and stylization, Coppola finds the desired narrative safety, timelessness, and perfect control over what he tells. The strange and very rich combination of many inspirations (from the black-and-white classics of the 1940s and 1950s to the Almodovar express) looks monumental and petrified, like those Patagonian glaciers. Emotions move slowly here like an icy massif; they chill, do not intervene, the film safely cocoons into thoughtful paths and schematized images of family decay and creative agony. Coppola really made his testament - there is no room herein for irritability and experimentation anymore, just for movement in a safely bounded space of a masterfully lighted and filmed scene, which is largely Coppola's private theatre. Tetro has a hard time making an impact, but it's definitely one of the remarkable feats for a select few. (12/05/2011)