“Tetro” is a remarkably fresh and absorbing psychoanalytic drama. This tale of family conflict echoes many classic works including the Cain and Abel story from the Bible and even “Oedipus Rex.” 

The movie opens in Chicago on June 19, and it will begin an extended run on that day at the Landmark Century Theater, “Tetro” is the first movie that Francis Ford Coppola has written since 1974’s “The Conversation,” and he also directed it.  But what is really surprising is that for his comeback film, he has chosen to make a black and white Indy feature which was shot in Argentina.  

At this late stage in the game, the seventy something Coppola has found a bold way to reinvent himself by going abroad (Perhaps he was inspired by Woody Allen’s fruitful stay in Spain which led to the triumphant, “Match Point“).  

Coppola may also has regained some of his vitality by going back to his low budget roots, and Vincent Gallo (from  “Buffalo ‘66”  and the notorious “The Brown Bunny’) is  one of the few recognizable American stars in the film.    

The film stars Alden Ehreneich as Bennie, as a free spirited young man who still hasn’t found himself yet. He is quite naïve, and has never even been with a woman. One suspects that part of the reason he set out to find his long lost brother is that he is badly in need of mentoring. 

He tries rediscovering his roots by tracking his brother, Tetro in Argentina. Tetro (played by a sullen and surly Vincent Gallo) is a typical, idiosyncratic, moody, wanna-be artist (I suspect that there is more than a little of the real Gallo in him.) Tetro is  rugged, experienced, and streetwise. It is also obvious that he is tormented by inner demons.  He has a rock hard surface, and that suggests that he has been through the wringer.  

Tetro’s maternal live in girlfriend, Miranda (Maribel Verdu, who is as ravishing here as she was in "Y To Mama Tambien") is the exact opposite of him. She is beautiful, gracious, easy to get along with, soft, compassionate, and caring. She seems classier and much better mannered than Tetro.    

When Bennie comes to live with the young couple, long buried tensions and horrible memories begin to come to the surface. When Tetro left his abusive dad in America, he promised Bennie that he would come back for him, but he betrayed the promise.  It turns out that there is a terrible family secret, and Tetro’s father has also betrayed him.  

The psychologically perceptive Miranda probably hopes that Bennie’s arrival will help Tetro achieve some kind of catharsis, so that he can begin writing again. He has several hundred pages of a novel that he never finished, but it seems like he gave up on it.  

Carmen Maura makes an impressive cameo appearance playing Alone, Tetro's ex literary mentor. She now works as a drama critic, and she has given up hope on her former student, Tetro. 

There is a color sequence in the film that seems to be a flashback from Tetro’s past, but for all we know it could be a work of fiction. Tetro seems to blend fact and fantasy together in his mind, and his whole past may be pure invention. 

“Tetro” doesn’t equal Coppola’s ‘70s masterpieces, but it is a step in the right direction. It is a well developed and mesmerizing minor masterpiece which should help resurrect the career of a master film maker.