Monday, September 22, 2003
The Brown Bunny. #016:
From Ebert's 9/21/03 "Movie Answer Man" column:
Q. I read a review that said that you sang "Singing in the Rain" and made "body sounds" whilst attending the screening of "The Brown Bunny." I pride myself on not being a dumbed-down American moviegoer (I'm actually English, so I wouldn't qualify for that, anyway.) Now I'm somewhat concerned that I have been following the reviews of a man who doesn't know how to behave in a movie theater! OK, I know, the movie was appalling apparently, but still, is this the behavior of a respected film critic?
Harvey Kertland, San Diego, Calif.
A. Actually, I sang "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," just those six words, during a flashback scene showing Gallo on a bicycle with Chloe Sevigny. Consider it a tribute to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." I sang it very softly to my wife, but for my sins I was seated close to a writer for the Hollywood Reporter, who included it in an article about the movie's negative reception at Cannes, where the entire audience was engaging in hoots and catcalls. The story has now grown to the point where you would think I performed it on a kazoo. After the screening of "The Brown Bunny" at Toronto, director Vincent Gallo cited the wrong song, and further elaborated that I "burped and farted" during the screening. Not true.
Gallo's strategy is to draw attention to my dislike of the film in order to distract from the fact that the movie was almost universally disdained at Cannes, receiving a record low rating from the Screen International panel of critics (none of them me). He paints me as a lone dissenter instead of merely one voice in the chorus.
Nevertheless, having praised most of Gallo's work (including his directorial debut "Buffalo 66"), I look forward to seeing his shortened and re-edited version of the film, and take heart from Michael Harnest of Toronto, who saw it and writes me: "I was disappointed; not because it was a bad film, but because it wasn't bad enough. It wasn't good, by any means, but I'd watch it again before, say, 'Pearl Harbor.'"
posted by Linus |
7:26 AM
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