Review of My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2010) by Instaflicka P — 04 Jan 2011

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done tries to find the divine in madness, the poetry in lunacy and the beauty in murder like life were a Greek tragedy.

Directors have used these elements in films before, but never in such a confounding way as Werner Herzog does in this one.

The movie tells the story of Brad McCullum (Michael Shannon), who loses his mind and turns violent against his beloved mother with a Civil War-era battle sword. He takes hostages and holes up in his home as the police surround him.

Murder and madness are not new features in film. Filmmakers have used them to titillate movie going audiences before - Quentin Tarantino has made an art form out of titillating the carnal and animal side of the brain with these things. Herzog, however, seems to want it to tickle the thoughtful and intellectual side of the brain.

There is no blood or gore in this film. The audience is not allowed to see the central murder. It is only described in poetic, but creepy terms by a neighbor who witnessed it.

Strangely, Herzog makes Brad both the villain and the hero of this story. Although obviously disturbed, Brad, is the only person in this movie that displays passion. He is fascinated with the beauty of his life and surroundings. He is transfixed by the simple and the obscure and fruitlessly tries to share these fascinations with the people around him. This includes a girlfriend, his over-involved mother and his director in an amateur theater production of a Greek play.

Early in the film there is a scene where Brad tries to share what he sees with a group of friends on a trip in South America. He tries to persuade them from going on a kayaking trip down a river. They ignore him and end up drowning. Maybe it is this moment that Brad fully gives into the disturbed half of himself. He has to make everyone else see what he sees or they may die too. He must get their attention. He must razzle dazzle them.

I suspect most people, however, will not be dazzled or razzled by this film. Herzog gives us a film that, for the most part, is just aggravating. The movie starts with the police arriving on the scene of the murder and explains -- or doesn't -- the slaying and Brad's madness through flashbacks.

When the audience sees how disturbed Brad was after returning from South America it is a wonder why no one had him committed. And it is just as confounding as to why when he does something maniacal that everyone's reactions to the crime are so muted.

The film boasts a truly wonderful cast with Willem Dafoe (Spider-man, The Boondock Saints), Chole Sevigny (Big Love) and others but they are sorely underused. Only Shannon is given the room to provide an interestingly disturbed and intense performance - something for which he seems to have made his specialty.

Sure, this is more than just a man goes crazy story, but I am not convinced that delving intellectually into the delusions of this crazy man is really worth it.