Sat, May 24, 2003 page16

• Gallo reveals all in `Brown Bunny'

  As everyone knows, sex sells. At Cannes it is practically necessary

  • By Yu Sen-lun / STAFF REPORTER IN CANNES, FRANCE
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  Wannabe famous?

  It helps in Cannes, if you make a film that is either extremely boring or extremely provocative but preferably both, as American actor and director Vincent Gallo is finding out.

  

  Vincent Gallo, right, and Chloe Sevigny arrive for the screening of their film The Brown Bunny, in Cannes, France.

  PHOTO: AP

  Last year, French film Irreversible made some in the audience throw up and even faint, after watching Monica Belucci being raped in the film for 10 minutes.

  

  Sir Elton John, left, with partner David Furnish, at the amFar bash.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  This year, Gallo, the former Calvin Klein jeans sex icon, put his audience to sleep for the first two thirds of the film, with one and a half hours of tedious driving scenes.

  Then, the audience was suddenly jolted by a graphic oral sex scene in the last 30 minutes of the film that featured Gallo and actress Chloe Sevigny.

  

  Zhang Zi Yi arrives at the Palais des Festivals to attend the screening of her film, Purple Butterfly, in Cannes.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Brown Bunny immediately became the most booed movie so far at this year's Cannes Film Festival. At the following press conference, one of the first questions, inevitably, was, "Is it yours? [the penis]" and, "How did you convince Chloe to do the scene with you?"

  

  Elisabeth Taylor arrives at the amFar (American Fondation for Aids Research) benefit party in Mougins, near Cannes.

  PHOTO: AFP

  "Weren't you a bit impressed?" Gallo replied.

  "Not necessarily. And definitely not with the size!" some journalists responded.

  Gallo first became known as an actor in Arizona Dream and French film Trouble Everyday. His directorial debut Buffalo `66 (1998), an edgy comedy in which he stars with Christina Ricci, was generally regarded as a successful American independent film.

  Like Buffalo `66, Brown Bunny is another film produced, written, edited, and acted in, by Gallo. He was also in charge of cinematography and production design.

  The story follows the cross-country road journey of a motorcycle racer named Bud, who spends five days driving from New Hampshire to California. Throughout the long drive he is haunted by the memory of his true love. In trying to put the past behind him, he asks any woman he meets on the road to come with him, but leaves them behind after they agree.

  But the film indulges itself in Vincent's loneliness, with large portions of the movie focusing on him driving down an empty road, with no dialogue. Sometimes he pulls over for gas or else flirts briefly with strangers.

  The monotony of the driving scenes drove around a thousand people in the audience at Cannes to make noises, boo, pretend to cough and laugh at inappropriate moments throughout the film. At the end of the screening, Gallo and Sevigny received a mock standing ovation from the audience. Dozens of other people walked out in the middle of the film.

  "Is it a Vincent Gallo ego trip?" a journalist asked.

  "It's dealing with un-popularity," Gallo said. "I have learnt to deal with the fact that I'm not popular. It comforts me. I'm not looking for popularity, I don't even want a career and even less so, a place on Hollywood's power list."

  "I know you are calling it narcissistic behind my back. But I am not ... I am only interested in things I know, which are things about myself ... That's why I don't direct other people's scripts," Gallo said.

  Commenting on the sex scene, Gallo said that he was not interested in

  eroticism or pornography. "What people do physically in their sexual behavior contrasts with what they think they're doing, or how the impression is felt emotionally."

  "When making the movie ... I couldn't imagine this scene in any other way. I couldn't separate the concept of watching what people do physically, and understanding what they're going through emotionally," Gallo said.

  Sitting beside Gallo throughout the press conference, Sevigny remained calm. "I accepted the role on the phone after talking to Vincent, without thinking of or seeing the script. I know his talent and I trusted him," said the actress, who had previously refused to attend the press conference.

  Gallo later revealed that he fired both Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst during filming.

  He said he had only cast Ryder, because, "I knew she was going to jail and this would have been good for the movie ... I would never cast Winona Ryder in a significant role."

  He said he fired Ryder because, "She flew in having not called her agent, which was great, but then she ball-busted me over her wardrobe and her make-up. At 9am, when we were supposed to shoot, she had a mask on and ear-plugs in. She had, let's say, taken some tablets that seemed to have an impact on her behavior ... So I fired her".
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