TARNATION (2003)

Written, Directed & Cinematography By: Jonathan Caouette
Editor: Jonathan Caouette & Brian A Kates


The film was made for $218 originally a edited on free editing software, but the end budget was $400,000 due to Music, video clips and royalties.

This could have been one of the most affecting documentaries I had ever seen but unfortunately after I watched it the first time I decided to watch it with the commentary in which the director admits he didn’t get a lot of stuff even though it really did happen and he admits he staged other dramatic moments for the sake of the film.

Now while I applaud his bravery for admitting that I’m sure a lot of documentarians do it but don’t admit it. That fact though did leave me feeling emotionally manipulated like I was conned. Which made me feel how some felt after reading A MILLION LITTLE PIECES thinking it a real life inspiration story by james frey only to find out it was mostly fabricated but as In that case it is the story and the message that is important. This film is a true story of beauty and took a lot to open up about his families and they’re lives.

Since he is a artist I felt like this was just another one of his art projects. The documentary does play like a experimental film but it makes you question what is a documentry? Is what he did really wrong considering it is about a subject and uses mostly footage of real events and people from his past. Does it mater if some of it’s staged to form more of a narrative or is it just a technique that few have used and admitted to. Look at Michael Moore films where he makes a spectacle of things to keep things entertaining then you find out later the scenes were heavily edited to satisfy his agenda.

The Documentry is about a young man’s mother who has schizophrenia who he takes care of now, but the film uses old home videos to tell his mother’s life story and how her condition affected her family and friends growing up.

This documentary works on both it’s subject and the thoughts about it. It told it’s story. The film also has a really good hard to find soundtrack that I wish had been released as I think it would have brought a lot of revenue but also would have helped sell more tickets and presented it to a grander audience to discover the film.

GRADE: A-