Rating: 1 / 5
General Information:
The Brown Bunny is an American indie film written, produced, and directed by Vincent Gallo, also the lead, in 2003. Gallo plays a motorcycle racer who is on a road trip, and is haunted by memories of a lover he once had, Daisy. At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Gallo’s film was booed, and Roger Ebert called the film the worst film in the history of Cannes.
Plot:
Bud Clay is a motorcycle racer who is driving from New Hampshire to California to race. Along the way, he is haunted by memories of a past lover, Daisy. On his trip he meets many women, but does not show any emotional concern towards them. Violet is the first woman he meets at a gas station in NH, and he convinces her to join him. When he stops by her house to get her to grab her things before leaving, he takes off without her.
Next, Bud goes to Daisy’s parent’s home. This is where we find the film’s namesake – Daisy’s brown bunny.
Bud then runs into a woman, Lilly, at a rest stop, who is crying. He comforts and kisses her, but then leaves her.
In Vegas, Bud drives around and is approached by prostitutes. He asks one to get lunch with him, but then he leaves her at the curb.
Bud stops at Daisy’s home which seems abandoned, and leaves a note for her on the door. He then checks into a hotel, where Daisy appears. She goes to the bathroom twice during the visit to smoke crack cocaine, and suggests that they get some alcohol. Bud says that he no longer drinks, due to things that happened last time they were together.
They get into an argument about Daisy being with other boys. He then undresses her, and she performs fellatio on him. Afterwards, they lay in bed and they talk about what happened before. He asks her why she hooked up with boys at a party, and she said that she was being friendly and got high with them. Bud gets upset because she was pregnant and whatever happened caused the baby to die at the party.
Through visual cues, it is evident that Daisy was raped at the party, and Bud did not intervene. He left the party, came back, and saw Daisy in an ambulance. She explains to him that she is dead, having choked to death.
Controversy:
Kirsten Dunst and Winona Ryder were both supposed to be involved in the film, however they both dropped their names. There is speculation that they dropped due to the fellatio scene. Chloe Sevigny, the actress who performed in that scene, had been intimate with Gallo before, and decided to take the role. She was also dropped from the William Morris Agency for it.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding a billboard in Hollywood, Ca in 2004 that featured a black and white image taken from the fellatio scene. It was not explicit, but it was removed.
My Thoughts:
I thought there was too much driving and not enough plot. There was no attachment to Daisy for the viewer, and I really didn’t feel like I walked away impressed.
