''Tetro'' is a 2009 American-
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written, produced and directed by
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
and starring
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...
,
Alden Ehrenreich
Alden Caleb Ehrenreich (; born November 22, 1989) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in '' Supernatural'' (2005), and Francis Ford Coppola's films ''Tetro'' (2009) and ''Twixt'' (2011). Following supporting roles in the 2013 ...
and
Maribel Verdú
María Isabel Verdú Rollán (; born 2 October 1970) is a Spanish actress. Some of her film credits include performances in '' Lovers'', ''Belle Époque'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Pan's Labyrinth'', '' The Blind Sunflowers'' and ''Snow Whi ...
. Filming took place in 2008 in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...
, and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. An
international co-production
A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...
between the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
the film received a limited release in the U.S. on June 11, 2009.
Premise
Set in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
with a high content of
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
, this story of the reunion of two brothers follows the rivalries born out of creative differences passed down through generations of an artistic
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
immigrant family.
Cast
*
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...
as Tetro, the protagonist. Coppola said of his casting choice, "I know choosing Vincent Gallo to star in my film will raise a few eyebrows, but I'm betting that seeing him in the role will open some eyes."
Prior to Gallo,
Matt Dillon
Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination.
Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...
and
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...
were up for the role.
*
Alden Ehrenreich
Alden Caleb Ehrenreich (; born November 22, 1989) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in '' Supernatural'' (2005), and Francis Ford Coppola's films ''Tetro'' (2009) and ''Twixt'' (2011). Following supporting roles in the 2013 ...
as Bennie, Tetro's younger brother
*
Maribel Verdú
María Isabel Verdú Rollán (; born 2 October 1970) is a Spanish actress. Some of her film credits include performances in '' Lovers'', ''Belle Époque'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Pan's Labyrinth'', '' The Blind Sunflowers'' and ''Snow Whi ...
as Miranda, Tetro's girlfriend
* Silvia Pérez as Silvana
*
Rodrigo de la Serna
Lionel Rodrigo de la Serna (; born 18 April 1976) is an Argentine actor. He is known for playing Alberto Granado in the 2004 biopic '' The Motorcycle Diaries'' and Palermo in the Netflix series '' Money Heist''. His role in '' Money Heist'' as ...
as José
*
Érica Rivas
Érica Rivas (; born 1 December 1974) is an Argentine actress. She gained recognition for playing María Elena Fuseneco in the sitcom '' Casados con hijos'' (2005–2006).
Career
Rivas was born in Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires Province. She liv ...
as Ana
*
Sofia Gala as Maria Luisa
*
Carmen Maura
María del Carmen García Maura (born 15 September 1945) is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, she has starred in films such as ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'', ''¡Ay Carmela!'', '' Common Wealth'', and ...
as Alone, a literary critic and Tetro's mentor.
The character was originally written to be male, and actor
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopath, ...
was previously attached to the role. Coppola explained the change in sex, "As I read and reread (the script), I felt that the interaction between the two characters would be far more intriguing if they were of the opposite sex."
*
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer (; born Klaus Georg Steng; 22 June 1943) is an Austrian actor and director. He is also a professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar.
Brandauer is known internationally for his roles in ''The Russia House'' (1990), ''Mephisto'' ...
as Alfie/Carlo Tetrocini, Tetro's father
*
Mike Amigorena
Ricardo Luis Amigorena (born May 30, 1972 in Maipú, Mendoza Province, Argentina), better known as Mike Amigorena is an Argentine actor.
Biography
He was born in Maipú, Mendoza Province to a Basque Argentine father and an Italian Argentine m ...
as Abelardo
* Lucas Di Conza as Young Tetro
* Adriana Mastrángelo as Angela
*
Leticia Brédice
Leticia Marcela Brédice (born July 26, 1975) is an Argentine actress and singer.
Career
Brédice won Best New Actress Award from the Argentine Film Critics Association in 1993 for ''Anni Ribelli''. In 1997, she has also won Best Supporting Act ...
as Josefina
*
Francesca De Sapio
Francesca De Sapio (16 August 1945) is an Italian actress and acting coach, best-known as the young Carmela Corleone in ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974).
The daughter of an architect, she was born in Rome. After her father's work took him to th ...
as Amalia
*
Susana Giménez
María Susana Giménez Aubert (born 29 January 1944), known as Susana Giménez (), is an Argentine TV host, actress, model and businesswoman. In 2012, she was considered the biggest celebrity in Argentine television by the media firm that pub ...
as Herself
Production
In February 2007,
Coppola announced that he would produce and direct the film ''Tetro'', based on a script that he had written while editing ''
Youth Without Youth''. Production was scheduled to begin in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in late 2007.
Coppola was attracted to Argentina as a location, "I knew Argentina has a great cultural, artistic, literary, musical, cinema tradition, and I like those kinds of atmospheres very much because you usually find creative people to work with."
Production did not begin as scheduled, and by March 2008,
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo (born 1961) is an American actor and director. He has had supporting roles in films such as ''Arizona Dream'' (1993), ''The House of the Spirits'' (1993), ''Palookaville'' (1995), and '' The Funeral'' (1996). His lead roles include ...
and
Maribel Verdú
María Isabel Verdú Rollán (; born 2 October 1970) is a Spanish actress. Some of her film credits include performances in '' Lovers'', ''Belle Époque'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Pan's Labyrinth'', '' The Blind Sunflowers'' and ''Snow Whi ...
joined the cast.
The Spanish company Tornasol Films and the Italian company BIM Distribuzione signed with the director to co-produce the film.
Production began on March 31, 2008 with a budget of $5 million,
with Coppola using the production style similar to his previous film ''
Youth Without Youth''.
Filming took place in
La Boca
La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the Matanza River) is a neighborhood (''barrio'') of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It retains a strong Italian flavour, many of its early settlers having originated in the city of Genoa.
Geography
L ...
in Buenos Aires and other parts of the capital city. Filming also followed in the Andean foothills in
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...
and at the
Ciudad de la Luz
Ciudad de la Luz ("City of Light") is a film studio in Alicante, Spain. About 60 films were shot on the studio's premises between opening in 2005 and closing in 2012. In May 2012, the European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the e ...
studios in
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Production concluded in June.
In May 2008, during filming in Argentina, the Argentina Actors Association, an actors' union, claimed that production of ''Tetro'' was shut down due to union members working on the film without a contract. According to ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'', "Local press reports say that script changes and communication problems between the multi-national cast and crew have extended filming days beyond regularly scheduled hours, and that some of the Argentine actors are still not certain of their salary." The director's spokesperson, Kathleen Talbert, denied that production was halted, saying, "There are no holds on shooting, no problem with actors. In fact, the majority of the Argentine actors have already wrapped the shooting." By the end of the month, the union said the issue was resolved, reporting, "The lawyers for the producers presented the necessary documentation and recognized the errors that they had made. So now they are able to continue with production." In contrast, Talbert reiterated that there had been no issue, and production was never halted.
The entire project was edited using
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is a series of non-linear editing, non-linear video editing software programs first developed by Macromedia, Macromedia Inc. and later Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro 10.6.4, runs on Macintosh, Mac computers power ...
on
Apple Mac
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
computers in a specially designed large screen edit suite built by Masa Tsuyuki.
The cast includes
Rodrigo de la Serna
Lionel Rodrigo de la Serna (; born 18 April 1976) is an Argentine actor. He is known for playing Alberto Granado in the 2004 biopic '' The Motorcycle Diaries'' and Palermo in the Netflix series '' Money Heist''. His role in '' Money Heist'' as ...
,
Leticia Brédice
Leticia Marcela Brédice (born July 26, 1975) is an Argentine actress and singer.
Career
Brédice won Best New Actress Award from the Argentine Film Critics Association in 1993 for ''Anni Ribelli''. In 1997, she has also won Best Supporting Act ...
,
Mike Amigorena
Ricardo Luis Amigorena (born May 30, 1972 in Maipú, Mendoza Province, Argentina), better known as Mike Amigorena is an Argentine actor.
Biography
He was born in Maipú, Mendoza Province to a Basque Argentine father and an Italian Argentine m ...
and Jean-Francois Casanovas.
The film features a brief
cameo by Argentine film star
Susana Giménez
María Susana Giménez Aubert (born 29 January 1944), known as Susana Giménez (), is an Argentine TV host, actress, model and businesswoman. In 2012, she was considered the biggest celebrity in Argentine television by the media firm that pub ...
in her first performance after a ten-year hiatus from film acting.
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has an average score of 65/100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported a 71% approval rating, based on 109 reviews with an average score of 6.40/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A complex meditation on family dynamics, ''Tetro''s arresting visuals and emotional core compensate for its uneven narrative."
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film 3 stars, praising the film for being "boldly operatic, involving family drama, secrets, generations at war, melodrama, romance and violence". Ebert also praised Vincent Gallo's performance and stated Alden Ehrenreich "inspires such descriptions as 'the new
Leonardo DiCaprio' ". Todd McCarthy of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' gave the film a B+ judging that "when
oppolafinds creative nirvana, he frequently has trouble delivering the full goods."
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects.
He was the former editor-in-chief of ''Film Comment' ...
of ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine gave the film a mixed review, praising Ehrenreich's performance, but claiming Coppola "has made a movie in which plenty happens but nothing rings true."
''Tetro'' was sixth on the 2009 ''
Cahiers du cinéma
''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab, Ge ...
'' Top Ten list.
Cahiers du Cinema: Top Ten Lists 1951-2009
Retrieved June 16, 2010.
See also
* List of Argentine films of 2009
A list of films produced in Argentina in 2009 in film, 2009:
See also
*2009 in Argentina
External links
Argentine films of 2009at the Internet Movie Database
Argentine films and box office of 2009
(Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argentine Films ...
* List of Spanish films of 2009
A list of Spanish-produced and co-produced feature films released in Spain in 2009. When applicable, the domestic theatrical release date is favoured.
Films
Box office
The ten highest-grossing Spanish films in 2009, by domestic box office ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Francis Ford Coppola
2009 films
American Zoetrope films
2009 drama films
American drama films
English-language Argentine films
English-language Spanish films
Spanish drama films
Italian drama films
English-language Italian films
2000s English-language films
2000s Italian-language films
2000s Spanish-language films
Films directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Films produced by Francis Ford Coppola
Films set in Argentina
Films shot in Argentina
Films shot at Ciudad de la Luz
Films shot in Buenos Aires
Films with screenplays by Francis Ford Coppola
American multilingual films
Italian multilingual films
Spanish multilingual films
Argentine multilingual films
2009 multilingual films
2000s American films
2000s Spanish films
2000s Italian films