the brown grain of a 35mm camera, the stark contrast of a rough, rugged man and the sweet angel of a teenage girl with big beautiful eyes painted with blue, the americana of diners, bowling alleys, football- that's buffalo '66.
it was the beauty of christina ricci playing that sweet teenage girl, dressed in the angelic baby blue dress, adorned with bright blue eyeshadow and sparkling tap shoes, that really drew me to the film. of course next was the short, concise summary: a man gets released from prison and kidnaps a girl to play the facade of his loving wife to impress his parents.
what seems like a simply dark twisted film delves into something else. we have a hurt man, emotionally neglected by his parents- a father abrasive and resentful of his son and a mother who regrets her only experience of childbirth because it cost her a football game. it's really no wonder billy brown (played by the film's own director, vincent gallo) is so rough and tempestuous throughout the film, harsh and aggressive to his victim, layla. he's a man hurt and scorned, cheated by his parents, cheated by his first (and only, it seems) unrequited love, cheated by the bookie who forces him to go to prison for a crime he didn't commit...but even though this film seems somewhat autobiographical, it's hard not to think this man is so utterly pathetic.
he's a man who is angry at the world, angry at himself, angry at everything and would want to see everything burn. and like every cliche film following a man so wronged and 'haunted by his demons', billy avoids self-destruction by softening to the sweetness of layla. maybe it's the feminist in me but it was aggravating to watch layla be so kind and sweet and loving to a man who forces her into her own car, a man who pulls her hair and threatens her, a man who forces her to act in a twisted play of happy families, a man who deserts her at a diner- it's endless cruelty but somehow we see the film end with sweet layla being cradled close by billy.
i didn't dislike the film- there were valid criticisms of both the fiction but also the reality of filming (the difficulty of the director and actor vincent gallo, his poor treatment of christina ricci etc etc) but i'd be lying if i said it wasn't an enjoyable watch. i think there's something quite addictive about watching characters you hate, especially those you despise because they're so pitiful, so pathetic, so desperate and angry and fail to take accountability for anything- everything that essentially makes up the character of billy brown. it's particularly addictive when you see those turbulent storms of characters tamed by their complete opposites, someone calm and collected, sweet and sensitive and emotional in contrast to their anger and scorn and resentment i.e. layla.
i do wish the film explored layla more- i'd be curious of her backstory, her life as a dancer, her dreams and ambitions, her family life and why she's so drawn to a man like billy brown. is she self-destructive? does she believe herself a healer? if the girls watching this film are anything like me, something is drawing them to layla. do they see themselves in her, a girl slightly insane who would give everything to a man, a man that doesn't deserve her?
overall, buffalo '66 is a film worth watching. an hour and fifty minutes passes by quickly when you're observing such dysfunctional characters in a world of beautiful american cinematography.
Listen to me. You can wear a croptop even if you're fat. You can wear a bikini. A short skirt. A dress with an open back. Biker shorts. You can wear whatever you want.
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