Tarnation (2003)

Director:

Jonathan Caouette

Writer:

Jonathan Caouette (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 2004 (France)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Your greatest creation is the life you lead

Plot:

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

Plot Keywords:

Video | Drug Abuse | Gay Interest | Rape | Absent Father

Awards:

8 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Renee Leblanc	...	Herself
Jonathan Caouette	...	Himself
Adolph Davis	...	Himself
Rosemary Davis	...	Herself
David Sanin Paz	...	Himself
Joshua Williams	...	Himself
Michael Cox	...	Guy cussing in short film
David Leblanc	...	Himself
Stacey Mowery	...	Herself
Michael Mouton	...	Himself
Greg Ayres	...	Himself (as Bam-Bam)
Vanda Stovall	...	Herself
Dagon James	...	Himself
Vivian Kalinov	...	Herself (as Girl in Student Film)
Steve Caouette	...	Himself

Runtime:

88 min | Argentina:88 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:14 (video rating) | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | Norway:15 | Japan:PG-12

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Trivia:

It cost $218 to make but the budget rose to $400,000, once music and video clip royalties were included.

Movie Connections:

References Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Soundtrack:

Ice-Pulse

Torture

One of the other writers who commented on this movie says he could identify with it as the gay son of a mentally ill parent. If you are a part of that microscopic universe, you may also enjoy this work, but if you are anyone else, I would strongly recommend another choice for your entertainment pleasure. I have to agree with the other comment writer who felt like he had spent 2 hours watching a young man masturbate. That may be fun for the young man, but for the rest of us, it's just torture. The combination of bad amateur video, drama queen wailing, and scenes that run on forever was more than I could stand, though I did sit through the whole thing at Sundance. I'll agree that the concept is intriguing.

Many young people have now captured a good deal of their lives on video. Let's hope that some of them have a better talent for presenting it as something that more of us can conect with.