The Brown Bunny (2003)

After its scandalous screening at the 2004 Cannes film festival, Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny was cut from 118 to 92 minutes, and that made all the difference. The film that critic and long-time Cannes attendee Roger Ebert originally called "the worst film in the history of the festival" was transformed, by Gallo's judicious editing, into a perfectly acceptable if not universally respected art-house curio, widely criticized yet ripe for cult status, able to stand beside Gallo's Buffalo 66 as the work of a genuine artist with a singular vision. Yes, that vision is self-indulgent, narcissistic, and likely to turn off a majority of viewers with its glacial pace and endless shots of Gallo driving, driving, and driving some more. But in portraying a melancholy motorcycle racer who drives cross-country while mourning a private loss that remains secret until the final scenes, Gallo gives us a character, and a film, that feels spiritually akin to such early '70s classics as Five Easy Pieces and Two-Lane Blacktop. It's a flawed yet ultimately moving example of maverick, unconventional cinema, and while Chloe Sevigny's explicit oral sex scene with Gallo is completely unnecessary, it's just one more element that places The Brown Bunny firmly, and refreshingly, out of the mainstream. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

The difference between art and high art

There is definitely difference between art and high art. This is an attempt to present art, although not a very good one. The notion of telling a story about how remorse, guilt and grief shapes us in what we are is surely noble. But inserting graphic oral sex scenes to get to the point is totally unnecessary. This film would have been much better if it was presents in series of flashbacks or a third party narrator such as a close friend or a family member. But watching uncomprehensible actions of one guy during his cross-country drive thru the US to get to the final disclosure of what this story is all about during the final scenes, makes this movie boring. If you really want to see what the emptiness of a human sould is all about after a great loss, then you should skip this movie and see "Paris, Texas" or "Irreversible" instead. September 15, 2008

Arthouse sexual abomination and abrasive submission to anguish

This movie will leave you feeling numb.
Seriously, viewers who aren't fond of their safe little comfort zones being horrendously discombobulated and shattered into tiny pieces need to stay far away from this one.

It's about a guy named Bud Clay, who is a competitive motorcycle racer that is constantly running away from his inner demons.
I will admit, much of this movie is uneventful. It just shows Bud wallowing in his own loneliness and detachment as he travels across the country to his next race. You're left wondering what has left him so flustered. This stagnant narrative is actually a perfect setup, it all culminates in an ending that is so emotionally searing, so graphically shocking and sad, I'm still trying to recover.

***SPOILERS***
The end has an explicit oral sex scene performed by Chloe Sevigny. The Amazon editorial review labeled this graphic scene as completely unnecceassary. I understand their opinion, but I think they might be overlooking a startling point. It's much more than a repulsive or gratuitous deed. That act totally amplifies the shock, helps to roughly seize a piece of the earth-shattering, debilitating events that haunt the main character. Truly disturbing.

Nothing beats an arthouse film for jarring your emotions in an unconventional manner. I implore you to watch this with caution. August 16, 2008

Wonderful film for a Lonely Person

I read all the reviews before I purchased this movie, so I knew what I was getting into. I thought Vincent did a superb job of putting you in that place; i.e. getting you into the mood of the film and making you feel the same way the character does, much like he did in Buffalo '66. Great to watch alone, especially if you feel like you are out of place, or you feel the primal urge to get in the car and just journey. The film lulls you into a state of complacency, but the end builds into a big crescendo. The 'infamous scene' was totally necessary in my opinion. It makes sense assuming you are in a bad way when viewing the film. July 17, 2008

Journey across America with Grief on the passenger sit

I have not seen the original Director's cut of the film that had created so much bad press after the screening at the Cannes Film Festival and prompted Roger Ebert make the statement that "The Brown Bunny" was the worst film in the history of the festival but the 92 minutes long version that Gallo himself re-edited is certainly not the bad movie. I'd say it is much better than hundreds of one star reviews on the Netflix movie's site lead you to believe. I personally agree with Vienalle Film Festival that awarded to "The Brown Bunny" FIPRESCI Prize "For its bold exploration of yearning and grief and for its radical departure from dominant tendencies in current American filmmaking". In exploring loss, regrets, yearning, grief, loneliness, inner numbness as the way to cope with pain caused by guilt, longing for the contact and inability to communicate, Vincent Gallo, writer/director/star/cinematographer/editor for "The Brown Bunny", definitely drove his point across (no pun intended). I think that Gallo found the right way to create a mood of quiet and unbearable desperation. The movie brought to my mind the line from one of the poems by Paul Verlen, French poet of the 18th century, "I walked, accompanying my own grief". Grief was the passenger in Bud's van and kept him company on the long journey across America, from New Hampshire to California. They had a lot to talk about but their conversations were speechless - that's why there is so much silence in the movie and only shots of Bud's face and his eyes.


Many viewers (and reviewers) mention in their comments the notorious explicit scene of oral sex between Bud Clay (Gallo) and Daisy (Chloe Sevigny), the one true love of his life. Those who dismissed the movie as totally worthless say that without the scene, nobody would every bother watching "The Brown Bunny". I would not speak for everyone but I would've liked the film even without two minutes of graphic sex that in the context of the film is appropriately more disturbing and sad than anything else. With all due respect to the opinions of the viewers who dislike and even hate Vincent Gallo's movie, I found it interesting, compelling and satisfying.
May 19, 2008

Prepare to Fall Asleep

The one reviewer who states this film isn't for everyone is spot on: this film is for people who enjoyed Andy Warhol's "Man Sleeping" and films of that ilk, or people who think that a urinal mounted on an art gallery wall constitutes art. If you think the oral sex scene will save this film, prepare to be vastly disappointed. In point of fact, you can make your own version of this movie by simply driving from the Midwest to the West Coast, with your camcorder on the dash. Then, find a skanky girl to have oral sex with you. Then position the camcorder next to you on a bed, and sob and cry for ten minutes. And poof! You are an art house film director, too! Believe me, lads and lasses, I've seen thousands of films in my life, and this one rates ZERO stars. Oh, and by the way, did Cheryl Tiegs need to score some crack, or what? Why is she even in this film? April 12, 2008

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