Artist/musician/actor/Calvin Klein model/motorcycle enthusiast/photographer and filmmaker Vincent Gallo delivers the coup de grace of personal cinema with "The Brown Bunny," his second and perhaps final entry into the celluloid canon.

Gallo stars as Bud Clay, a motorcycle racer driving cross-country and lamenting the loss of his soulmate Daisy (Chloe Sevigny). Starkly naturalistic and nearly free of dialogue, the first two acts capture the lonely roads and barren landscapes of America's highways, with Gallo as the despondent navigator and the likes of Gordon Lightfoot and Jason C. Frank providing the soundtrack to his wrought mourning process.

Large portions of this taciturn journey are shot from behind his van's windshield — in a sense, Gallo's editing selections and direction are vaguely reminiscent of the French New Wave — yet "The Brown Bunny" is no mere picaresque travelogue. Gallo covers far more psychological terrain than topographical by routinely cutting from these lovely windshield views to heart-wrenching close-ups, making his sorrow and futile anguish the viewer's.

Gallo hints at his underlying pain with every tussle of his mane and wipe of the brow — masculinity has rarely looked so fragile and transparent.

Strangely hypnotic and blanketed in a serene aura of Americana, "The Brown Bunny" eventually finds Gallo coming to grips with his off-screen emotional demons during the film's devastating final third.

Culminating in an emotional train-wreck, Gallo lays himself bare for all to see upon finally reconciling with the ephemeral Daisy, thereby answering any questions as to the success of his career as a model. Although he bursts into an effeminate bout of sobs and recriminations toward the lost Daisy, Gallo mostly leaves all traces of flaccid sentimentality to the viewer's imagination.

Mounted and crafted with the intensely precise care of a private yet dedicated painter, Vincent Gallo's "The Brown Bunny" is an artistic success.

"The Brown Bunny" shows at 10 p.m. through Thursday at the Landmark Oriental Theatre, 2230 N. Farwell Ave.