Maribel Verdú, left, and Alden Ehrenreich in Tetro, which Francis Ford Coppola says is the most personal film he has made.
Maribel Verdú, left, and Alden Ehrenreich in Tetro, which Francis Ford Coppola says is the most personal film he has made.
Maribel Verdú, left, and Alden Ehrenreich in Tetro, which Francis Ford Coppola says is the most personal film he has made.
Maribel Verdú, left, and Alden Ehrenreich in Tetro, which Francis Ford Coppola says is the most personal film he has made.

Tetro


  • English
  • Arabic

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdú
***

Given that he's involved his relatives so much in his films, it's no wonder Francis Ford Coppola is obsessed with family dynamics. In Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen's Captain Willard played a sort of surrogate father to a group of young and frightened recruits, watching them crumble under pressure and follow him towards madness. Then there was The Godfather trilogy, which follows the intense saga of perhaps the most famous fictitious family ever. And his latest effort, Tetro, which first hit cinemas in 2009 and is out now on DVD in the UAE, again takes on the issues, this time with artistic greatness as the central theme, that have become Coppola's staple.

Set in Buenos Aires, Tetro starts with the 17-year-old Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich) unexpectedly turning up on the doorstep of his much loved and much older half brother Tetro, played by Vincent Gallo. A sullen, anguished soul, Tetro's fractious relationship with his father (a successful orchestra conductor and towering ego seen through a series of flashbacks) has forced him to flee his brother and his hometown of New York for a bohemian existence of late mornings and coffee shops in Argentina.

Remembering the brother as the vibrant and creative talent he once was, Bennie attempts to revitalise Tetro through his now-forgotten writings. Unfortunately, this troubled soul, described by his loving girlfriend Miranda (Maribel Verdú) as "like a genius, but without enough accomplishments", is happier to keep his former promise under lock and key (in this case a scruffy case full of papers covered in scrawlings that clearly use the "tortured" font). Confronted with Tetro's stubborn resistance to reflect on his past, Bennie goes it alone.

Having found his brother's unfinished script describing his overbearing father, he suddenly becomes a playwright, pens his own ending and puts it on the stage, with predictable (and rather cheesy) success. But even Tetro's new acclaim in the arts scene (led by the bizarre critic known as "Alone") isn't enough to contain his rage at Bennie, hinting at a central mystery holding everything together.

Shot in widescreen in black-and-white digital video, Tetro's only colour appears in the flashbacks, adding shades to the secretive back story to the elder brother's guarded character. Through the monochrome lens, Buenos Aires appears a fascinating and alluring backdrop, while a trip into the countryside sees the icy tops of the Andes flicker enticingly.

But despite the technical mastery displayed, plus some excellent performances, most notably from the newcomer Ehrenreich, the drama wobbles under the weight of its own attempts at magnitude. Heavily laboured, somewhat self-indulgent and rather strange in parts, Tetro has been described by Coppola as his most personal film to date.

Whether this has any reflection on the creative strains he had with his own father, a composer who co-wrote many of the scores to the Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now, or his children (either the Academy Award winning Sofia or Roman, who is second-unit director on Tetro), we're not entirely sure.

In any case, Tetro isn't bad. In fact, it's rather great in parts. But it just isn't as deep as it wants to be. Perhaps some matters are better kept in the family.

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:

Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona

Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate

Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
  • Never over populated areas
  • Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
  • Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
  • Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
  • Should have a live feed of the drone flight
  • Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Saturday's results

West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley

Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm 

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20DarDoc%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Samer%20Masri%2C%20Keswin%20Suresh%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%24800%2C000%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Flat6Labs%2C%20angel%20investors%20%2B%20Incubated%20by%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi's%20Department%20of%20Health%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2010%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km

TICKETS

Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ASIAN%20RUGBY%20CHAMPIONSHIP%202024
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EResults%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EHong%20Kong%2052-5%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESouth%20Korea%2055-5%20Malaysia%3Cbr%3EMalaysia%206-70%20Hong%20Kong%3Cbr%3EUAE%2036-32%20South%20Korea%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFixtures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EFriday%2C%20June%2021%2C%207.30pm%20kick-off%3A%20UAE%20v%20Malaysia%3Cbr%3EAt%20The%20Sevens%2C%20Dubai%20(admission%20is%20free).%3Cbr%3ESaturday%3A%20Hong%20Kong%20v%20South%20Korea%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWest%20Asia%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Bahrain%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Jebel%20Ali%20Dragons%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%201%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Harlequins%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%202%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%20III%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDubai%20Sevens%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TOUR DE FRANCE INFO

Dates: July 1-23
Distance: 3,540km
Stages: 21
Number of teams: 22
Number of riders: 198

Scoreline

Arsenal 3
Aubameyang (28'), Welbeck (38', 81')
Red cards: El Neny (90' 3)

Southampton 2
Long (17'), Austin (73')
Red cards: Stephens (90' 2)

Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000

Available: Now

THE SPECS

Aston Martin Rapide AMR

Engine: 6.0-litre V12

Transmission: Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic

Power: 595bhp

Torque: 630Nm

Price: Dh999,563

UAE squad to face Ireland

Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind

Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15

Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered

UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered

Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered

Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered

Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered

Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets