To say filmmaker Vincent Gallo is a controversial figure in the industry is a vast understatement. As an actor, he appeared in many films. However, it’s his work as a writer-director that really got his name in the conversation. After a successful debut film, “Buffalo ’66,” Hollywood was ready for the emergence of Gallo as a great filmmaker. Then, in 2004, Gallo released “The Brown Bunny.” That’s when everything started to go downhill for him.
“The Brown Bunny” garnered headlines after its premiere at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. With the graphic oral sex scene at the end of the film, and the ensuing, well-documented feud with film critic Roger Ebert, Gallo suddenly became the source of immense controversy. “The Brown Bunny” went on to become divisive, with thoughts about the opinions about the film ranging from positive to completely reviled. However, with Roger Ebert and Gallo making nice, and the filmmaker moving on to other projects, everyone assumed “The Brown Bunny” controversy was an dead issue.
That is until Vincent Gallo penned an open letter for Another Man magazine.
In his incredibly long open letter, the filmmaker goes on various rants, discussing each of his films, politics, and yes, Roger Ebert. But a good chunk of the letter is about his film “The Brown Bunny” and how the reaction to that film still bothers him today.
“The critics who say nothing happens in ‘The Brown Bunny’ while my character drives across the country, those critics have the intellect of children. Children need to be constantly entertained and amused,” says Gallo. “Some people wait for the blow job scene in ‘The Brown Bunny’ the way I waited to get to the lake when I was a child.”
Yep, it’s going to be that kind of letter.
After calling critics children, Gallo takes issue with how people called him a narcissist. “By making ‘The Brown Bunny’ there was in no way an opportunity to achieve the goals of a narcissist, the goal of being labeled a winner. In any case, it was the last thing on my mind. I was thinking about the film I wanted to make, not other people’s perceptions of why I would make it,” says Gallo. Yet, here he is, almost 15 years later, talking about other people’s perceptions of his film. Sigh.
But if you think Gallo is a misogynist piece of crap, don’t worry! He’s not. He swears!
“’The Brown Bunny’ is not an attack on feminism or a sexist comment on the contemporary woman’s increased demand for sexual fulfillment. Instead it is simply a reminder of the corrupted nature of men when having contact with a less than sober woman. The Daisy character is not to blame, yet it is still sad because underneath the feeling is that the tragedy could have been avoided,” explains Gallo.
For those that didn’t make it through “The Brown Bunny” or just chose not to watch it, the film is all about Gallo’s character’s relationship with his ex-lover Daisy. By the end of the film, the viewer learns that Daisy died after passing out at a party, where she is subsequently raped, and dies choking on her own vomit. You see, according to Gallo, she’s not to blame, but she could have avoided it, nevertheless. You know, if she wasn’t a drunk, drug addict. Ugh.
Moving on from feminism and narcissism, Gallo takes aim at an old enemy – Roger Ebert. Yes, Gallo has decided that now is the perfect time to really lay into Ebert for his unfair criticism and reaction during the Cannes screening back in 2003.
“Roger Ebert claimed that the re-editing of ‘The Brown Bunny’ after Cannes allowed him a difference of opinion so vast that he first called it the worst film in history and eventually gave it a thumbs up. This is both far fetched and an outright lie. The truth is, unlike the many claims that the unfinished film that showed at Cannes was 24 minutes shorter than the finished film, it was only 8 minutes shorter. The running time I filled out on the Cannes submission form was arbitrary,” contends Gallo.
But wait, there’s more!
Gallo continues, “He also took attention away from what he actually did at the press screening. It is outrageous that a single critic disrupted a press screening for a film chosen in main competition at such a high profile festival and even more outrageous that Ebert was ever allowed into another screening at Cannes. His ranting, moaning and eventual loud singing happened within the first 20 minutes, completely disrupting and manipulating the press screening of my film.”
When The Playlist reached out to Roger Ebert for comment, we remembered that Roger Ebert passed away in 2013, and that Gallo is picking a fight with a dead film critic that can’t defend himself. Jesus.
Going off on a bit of a tangent, Gallo then goes on to talk about the state of the world. Basically, he hates everyone and wants us all to die. Especially those little twerps that believe in equality. Pesky kids nowadays with their social justice and civil rights issues!
“I believe in fairness but I do not believe in equality. I reject the bastards who try to force equality and force outcome,” says Gallo. Can eyes roll so far back that they come around the front again? Asking for a friend.
Gallo goes further, saying, “There’s a part of me that thinks and believes every single person is great, amazing, vital and likable. However, I’m torn between wanting to help each and every person in every possible way. Torn between that and wanting to erase 6 billion of them, or even more.” That silly Vincent Gallo, always threatening global genocide! He’s such a hoot! Oh wait, he’s a serious filmmaker and artist. Sorry.
But just when you think that Gallo couldn’t say anything more that would send Film Twitter into a tizzy, he decides to invoke the Name. You know who. The President. The guy that is the very poster child of divisive politics. And what does Gallo do? Well, obviously, he compares himself to Trump, in a favorable way.
“Thankfully, these days Donald Trump has at least created some doubts about everything related to the press. In 2003 I was the Donald Trump of Cannes and anything I said or did was twisted and filtered through the righteous tabloid barbarians posing as journalists and critics,” says Gallo.
Honestly, that’s where we have to stop. The whole letter is thousands of words of more nonsense and rage-inducing pretension. Look, Gallo is a very capable filmmaker. Some might say he’s actually a visionary. But no matter what you believe, one thing is for certain.
Vincent Gallo is a giant asshole.
