Tarnation
"Tarnation" is a documentary that is easy to appreciate for the rehashing and reliving of two decades' worth of painful emotional family strife on the part of director Jonathan Caouette. It can't have been an easy film to make.And it is not an easy film to watch. In fact, "Tarnation" is often a frustrating, uneasy moviegoing experience. The jittery camera work and jolting editing splices often make it feel like cinematic insanity, which, of course, is what Caouette was going for. But it makes for challenging viewing.
Add to that Caouette's unflinching effort to show so many aspects of his life — including his own struggles with mental health and his open homosexuality — and the film becomes a dicey venture for most audiences.
"Tarnation" was culled from footage shot during more than 20 years of Caouette's life. Included are home movies, amateur video, snapshots and recordings, in which he tries to make sense of his continually changing, often tempestuous relationship with his biological mother, Renee Leblanc.
After she was institutionalized during his formative years, Caouette was raised by his grandparents in Texas, and what contact he had with his mother was limited. After moving to New York City, he contacted her again to try to reconcile and discover whether her schizophrenia was caused from shock treatments she received as a teen.
Still, it is a brave personal statement. And those who are able to withstand its sensory barrage may find the raw emotional content rewarding, if not necessarily enlightening.
"Tarnation" is not rated but would probably receive an R for frequent use of strong sexual profanity, some drug content (prescription drug abuse), scenes of movie violence and gore, use of crude sexual slang terms, brief, full male nudity, and brief, simulated sex. Running time: 88 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com