When Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny was first screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the majority of the audience walked out. Those that remained went on to hail it as being the worst film in the history of the festival. Feuds broke out between Gallo and a number of critics, most notably Roger Ebert, who Gallo went so far as to put a curse on him. Since then, Gallo has gone on to re-edit The Brown Bunny, excising nearly a quarter of the film in order to improve it. The newer version has been welcomed by critics, even those he cursed.
Sadly, I have not seen the original cut of The Brown Bunny. I'd like to, if only to compare the two, and I'm hoping that the DVD will come through. As it is though, I only have the newer cut to go on. It's certainly not a perfect film, nor is it anywhere near being a great one. But it is constantly engaging, if difficult viewing. Again we have a film that isn't so much to be enjoyed as to be appreciated.
Gallo himself takes on the lead role of Bud Clay, a motorcycle racer, who takes a trip across the country from New Hampshire
to California in order to see his girlfriend. During the trip, he has a number of encounters with various girls. This is about the entirety of The Brown Bunny. Each encounter is a little episode to itself, each one punctuated with some beautiful point of view shots from his van as he drives around mundane streets.
Taking on the lead role of a film of this nature may seem a little gratuitous, as Gallo isn't a particularly great actor. Yet he is the ideal Bud Clay. Bud is a troubled, introverted, wounded man, and this is what Gallo captures perfect. There are times when we feel pity for him, as do a number of the women he encounters along the way. He meets one woman in a store who really wants to go to California, and so he asks her to go with him. She says she can't, so he simply says "please" to her in a pleading voice. He has no idea what else to say in this situation, and so reverts to the kind of logic a small child would use.
To dismiss Clay as being the weak one of the film is a little unfair though, as on the whole, he really does mean well. He meets one woman in a park, who is clearly upset. He has no words to comfort her, so he just holds her without saying a word. When he meets a hooker, rather than make use of her services, he takes her for lunch at McDonalds and still pays her for her time. None of the other people Bud meets have real characters of their own, until we reach his meeting with Daisy.
The scene between Bud and Daisy (Chloë Sevigny) has gained an infamous reputation, as it contains a rather lengthy and explicit fellatio scene. Critics have derided the sequence as being gratuitous, yet it never feels that way upon watching it. Within the context of the film it fits perfectly. Yes, it is graphic, but it still feels appropriate. This sequence though has drawn attention away from Sevigny's performance. Her acting here is stunning, managing to equal Gallo in every way. In the limited screen time she has, she manages to run through a whole cross section of emotions, and it all comes together brilliantly.
None of this is to say that The Brown Bunny is without its flaws though. Because Gallo has done absolutely everything on this film (actor, director, writer, producer, editor), he has been the sole influence on its post-production. Whereas there is a good case to be made for this style of filmmaking, Gallo's work suffers here as the editing lets it down. He has no sense of restrain, and thus a lot of scenes go on far too long, or remain ponderous. I can only imagine how this must have been before the extra half hour was removed from the film.
On a technical level as well, the film is far from ideal. The picture quality is sufficient, but never stunning, and the sound quality is even worse. There are a number of scenes where characters go almost unheard as their dialog is just too muffled. Thankfully it doesn't matter too much here as the film doesn't actually contain that much dialog, but it is still slightly annoying.
Beyond these quibbles though, The Brown Bunny is a curiosity that deserves a look if you can get past its flaws. There is nothing to really enjoy here, but there is a lot to appreciate. Gallo is a talented filmmaker, but he really does need to learn how to delegate in future films, if only to tone down his eccentricities a little.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Nice review. Still havn't got round to watching this one yet, definitly will in the future though.
eve6kicksass 20.08.2005 08:52
Just saw this film for the first time tonight and thought it was incredibly good...i would give it another star, to be honest, even though its clear the film is not for everyone. As graphic as the fellatio scene was, it actually fit into the film, like you said...plus, i hope you agree with me that it was hardly erotic, but that was Gallo's point. While I don't think its close to being the masterpiece that BUFFALO 66 was, this still excellent, and I think Gallo is becoming one of the best independent filmmakers out there. Superb review there, loved reading it...Chris xxx
purplelynne 24.01.2005 21:24
Another one that I haven't heard of, but it does sound interesting. Lynne x
Vincent Gallo's infamously controversial road movie details the empty existence of ... more
motorcycle racer Bud Clay (Gallo) as he drives seemingly endlessly cross-country before a chance encounter with similarly emotionally suffocated Daisy (Sevigny) leads...
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![The Brown Bunny [DVD] [2004]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78497287.jpg "The Brown Bunny [DVD] [2004]")
Dec 27th, 2004
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