Review of Tarnation (2003) by Justin N — 23 Feb 2011

Jonathan Caouette had a terrible childhood, and it immediately shows at the film's beginning. Many people find some relief in writing journals; Jonathan seems to find something similar filming many of the most intimate parts of his life.

Right from the start, we're hit with a scene of Jonathan getting some terrible news about his mother's health. Because he's crying on the phone in front of a camera that he's clearly set up himself, I found myself unsure of what to feel. On the one hand, his pain certainly seems genuine, but on the other hand the setup looks like something purposefully dramatized like a reality TV show. The truth of is, I think, that the film is probably a mix of both, but the more it moved on, the less the heightened drama bothered me.

It becomes clear rather quickly that this has been a habit of Jonathan's from a very young age. When he was younger, he would perform agonizing dramas, acting as different characters to cope with the trauma caused by witnessing the rape of his mother, and her subsequent descent into madness through shock therapy treatments.

On a technical level, someone could easily pick out irritating things about Jonathan's work that make the film irritating: painful scenes that drag on far too long, manic editing, and an overuse of visual effects. But, for me, all of that can easily be cast aside when considering the guts it takes to show to the world a compilation of what are, essentially, the most cringe-inducing portions of his home videos. It's a moving, close-up look about what it's like to grow up in traumatic circumstances that functions in a way that is positively distinct from every other documentary I've seen.