June 29, 2011
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Tarnation
I watched an incredibly moving film last night. Tarnation, by Jonathan Caouette, is a journey through one man’s childhood and teenage years, up to now, 31 years of age. Using footage from a lifetime of home-movies, he leads us through this dark, dank, very strange labyrinth, chronicling his mother’s years of electro-shock therapy, his childhood in foster homes, the later years of getting to know his mother who spent her life in and out of psychiatric hospitals. Life isn’t art, until it’s recorded, edited, montaged into a film like this. Caouette is a genius, and with the help of Gus Van Sant he has made a crucial, infinitely-real, eye-opening film about one man’s incredible life.
Jonathan and his mother Renee. Despite the years of therapy she remained beautiful.
Comments (4)
That actually looks very interesting. I’ll have to check it out!
Okay, I’ll watch it!
You might like “Temple Grandin” on dvd. Her autobiography, Thinking in Pictures, is good too.
“Tarnation” was a good movie, but I’m not sure I could stand watching it again.
Your Xanga site looks interesting. My friend Richard Gessner told me that something of his, maybe a poem or short story, was published in an anthology and this Xanga site came up as a link to the link that he sent me. ttyl Randy.