The Profound Sadness of the Brown Bunny

I just saw Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny and I am in quandary as to what to think of it.

I just saw Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny and I think it is a masterpiece.

I just saw Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny and I think it is a boring and vain piece of rubbish.

Each of those applies as an opening line, because this is one of the few films that has left me confused, hurt, sad, touched, and moved, for several reasons. It is a slow but ultimately very, very rewarding film that tells a story of one man, motorcyclist Bud Clay, who is on a cross-country road trip to his next race. We can see, through the many gratuitous long close-ups of his face, that he is not a happy chap at all. Basically, that's it plot-wise, aside from the bit at the end when he meets Chloe Sevigny in a motel room and THAT SCENE happens, and then it ends.

(if you've heard of the Brown Bunny before reading this, then you will know THAT SCENE, and if you don't know about the Brown Bunny, look it up and you'll know exactly what I mean by THAT SCENE)

But yeah, basically at some point during the aftermath of THAT SCENE I found myself on the verge of tears, and very distressed indeed. The film came together, I realised what it all meant, and I found myself absolutely blown away (hohoho) (I've got to stop making these puns).

Basically, the film is slow. When I say slow, I mean... Really, really slow indeed. For the first 70 minutes, nothing much happens aside from Gallo drives, makes awkward contact with various females, and we are treated to other long shots of the outside of Gallo's front window. I like slow films, I enjoy being allowed to let the themes catch up and being able to savour the little details, but this film was just on the very edge of maybe pushing my patience. This is where my confusion lies; how can I call a film a masterpiece if the first 70 minutes I wasn't even very sure I enjoyed? Added to this, I was plagued with the idea towards the beginning that the film was a huge vanity project for Gallo, seeing as it can't be very hard to make a film which consists of driving about while the camera looks at you, and then chatting up girls (who all have the names of flowers, for reasons that become evident later) while the camera looks at you. But again, the ending fixed this; it might still be a vanity project, by if it is then by god it's a noble one. Can I really call it a masterpiece with this in mind...

But call it a masterpiece I shall, among other things, because the ending really is absolutely jaw dropping. I don't just mean THAT SCENE, but that and the things that happen after it after it. It really was an astonishing piece of cinema. To compare it to other films I've seen, I'd say it's matched by the finale of Kieslowki's Short Film About Killing, and the ending of 2007's Martyrs, the kind of ending that comes from nowhere and just destroys you. Truth be told, they're the kinds of endings that I live for in films. The beautiful ones that leave you breathless.

Those are what you could call my protracted views on the Brown Bunny. I loved it, but I'm not sure why, because 70 minutes of the film held my attention and my curiosity to no special or firm degree, but then the ending nearly killed me. But I don't really care. I think watching it again knowing the ending would give it some kind of an extra poignancy, and it certainly is a film that I would love to watch again.

All in all, I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT TO GIVE THIS OUT OF TEN AND IT'S THE KIND OF FILM THAT TAKES A POO IN THE FACE OF SUCH ARBITRARY AND ANAL SYSTEMS OF RANKING

But I imagine in a little while it'll become a 10/10. Who knows. Does it even matter? See the film and make up your own mind.