Buffalo ’66

Infobox Film
name = Buffalo '66


caption = Theatrical release poster
writer = Vincent Gallo
(story)
Vincent Gallo
Alison Bangall
(screenplay)
starring = Vincent Gallo
Christina Ricci
Mickey Rourke
Rosanna Arquette
Ben Gazzara
Anjelica Huston
Michael Maciejewski
Jan-Michael Vincent
John Sansone
director = Vincent Gallo
producer = Chris Hanley
distributor = Lions Gate
released = June 26, 1998
runtime = 110 min.
country = United States
language = English
cinematography = Lance Acord
editing = Curtiss Clayton
imdb_id = 0118789

"Buffalo ’66" is a 1998 film, and is writer/director Vincent Gallo's semi-autobiographical full-length motion picture debut. The retro look, do it yourself sensibility and the comic mixture of irony and sentimentality, as well as the casting and music, have caused the film to be strongly identifiable with late-1990s hipster culture.Fact|date=September 2008 Gallo and Christina Ricci star in the lead roles and the supporting cast includes Mickey Rourke, Rosanna Arquette, Ben Gazzara and Anjelica Huston. Gallo also composed and performed much of the music for the film.

This film is as much comedy as it is drama; Billy's scornful attitude and his contemptuous memories are often offset by amusing dialogue and ironic black humor. "Buffalo '66" is an indie film with a dirty, minimalist look; it has a faded and discoloured visual style thanks to the use of rare 35mm reversal film and (for the flashback scenes) 16mm stock. One particular scene features the use of a tableu set to the song "Heart Of The Sunrise" by the band Yes, where the action stops abruptly and the camera view rotates around the frozen scene, similar to the bullet time scenes in "The Matrix" a year later. Empire listed it as 36th greatest independent film ever made [http://www.filmsite.org/independentfilms.html] .

It was filmed in and around Buffalo, New York.

Plot

Having just served 5 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Billy Brown (Gallo)'s first desperate post-incarceration action is to search for somewhere to relieve himself. Then, to impress his dunceish, thoroughly neglectful parents, Gallo kidnaps a dance class student called Layla (Ricci) and forces her to pretend to be his wife. Layla allows herself to be kidnapped and it is clear she is romantically attracted to Billy from the start, but Billy all the while is compelled to deal with his own demons, his loneliness and his depression, and it is only at the end that he allows Layla to give him the love and comfort he has been needing all his life.

The subplot of Billy seeking revenge on the man indirectly responsible for his imprisonment, Scott Wood, is a reference to a former Buffalo Bills kicker, Scott Norwood, who missed the game-winning field goal in Super Bowl XXV against the New York Giants in 1991. [ [http://sport.guardian.co.uk/americansports/osm/story/0,,1982103,00.html It's Super Bowl loser Norwood's unlucky number. Here's why...] Gary Imlach, "The Guardian", January 7, 2007.]

Locations

The prison Billy is let out of is the former Gowanda State Psychiatric Hospital in Gowanda, NY. It is currently used as a corrections facility.

The bus terminal is the NFTA Greyhound bus station in downtown Buffalo, NY.

The dance school and Cafe LoCoCo are in the former AM&A's warehouse in downtown Buffalo, NY. The sign for Cafe LoCoCo still stands but the restaurant is closed.

Billy urinates on a tree behind St. Joseph Collegiate Institute in Kenmore, NY. The tree was destroyed in the October 13th storm that caused millions of dollars in damage in Buffalo.

Billy's parent's home is 174 Delta Rd. in Eggerstville NY. It is believed to be Vincent Gallo's parent's home but this is not confirmed. It is private property.

The bowling alley is Reckkio's Lanes on South Park in Lackawanna, NY.

The Denny's is the former Denny's on Niagara Falls Blvd. at Sheridan Drive in Amherst, NY. It is now a Mexican restaurant.

Scott Woods strip joint is 24KT Gold on Route 5 (Lakeshore Rd.) and the hotel across the street is Tadora's restaurant. In the movie, Woods states that the address is Niagara and Hertel Ave. which is nowhere near 24KT Gold.

The donut shop interior is a former Dickie's Donuts local franchise.

And the "shifter car" is an early 80s Toyota Corolla AE86.

Production

Ricci vowed to never work with Gallo again, due to the perceived abuse she suffered on set. [cite news
url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fgate%2Farchive%2F2004%2F07%2F13%2Fddish.DTL&type=printable
title = Ricci's traumatic gallo memories
work = San Francisco Chronicle
date = 2004-07-13
accessdate = 2008-04-15] She also resented the comments he made about her weight three or four years after filming. [cite web
url = http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/2921/
title = Christina Ricci interview
author = Dave Calhoun
publisher = Time Out
accessdate = 2008-04-15]

Gallo and Ricci reportedly did not get along on the set, but he expressed high approval of her final performance. His remarked that she was a "puppet" who did what she was told. [cite news
url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050118/news_lz1c18pubeye.html
title = Truth or consequences
author = Tiffany Lee-Youngren
work = San Diego Union Tribune
date = 2005-01-18
accessdate = 2008-04-15]

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0118789|title=Buffalo ’66