Review of Tarnation (2003) by Jay R — 09 Feb 2011

Some of us are born fortunate, some of us are lucky, and some of us just cannot catch a break. Jonathan Caouette is the latter of those, and it is time for his story to be heard. Masterfully using the cinematic montage, Tarnation is the tale of Jonathan and his life as he grows up with his schizophrenic mother. Using many different types of short films, home videos and disturbing testimonials, Jonathan has crafted a harrowing portrait of a confused adult who you can understand and fall for. It isn't exactly the happiest film, but it's a daring, sometimes hallucinatory attempt to understand this unjustly disturbed individual.

What I enjoy most about this documentary/expose of passion is how there is a lot of imagery, and less talking. The crazy psychedelic montages somehow paint a portrait of Jonathan's mind. We feel as if we truly understand who Jonathan is, despite that impossible barrier. We follow his movie, even though there is no structure, or any real line of thought to follow, Jonathan's montages continuously dazzle us, depicting a mind that is continuously creating and dreaming.

It doesn't even need a structure to work. 19 years of old videos make for some incredible editing skills. As I sat watching the constantly sad facts of Jonathan's life go by, the wave of colours and disturbing images arrive almost in an attempt to brainwash you. It shows that this is a story that needs to be seen not heard. And the lack of voice over is brilliant. Listening to someone do a voiceover about themselves would have ended up annoying and woeful. He isn't describing himself, he is sharing who he is with the rest of the world. Which is what any film does actually. Every film has a director's personal touch or mark on the filmstrip, this is no different.

The "story" turns into a personal search for a family, and asking "why me?" but never in a preachy way. Jonathan has be stricken with so many hardships, it's downright inspiring seeing his talent here. He edited and directed this documentary, and the randomness of it is why it is so powerful. You or I could have made this film, but the difference maker here is, we could never have made it like Jonathan did. This is his project and he owns it.

Driving into darker territory, Jonathan begins to focus on his mom Renee. In a climactic continuous take, Jonathan shows his mother's schizophrenia at its worst when she goes on for seven minutes about a pumpkin and some dolls. It is a scene that stunned me because I am used to seeing scenes that link feelings to other scenes and continue those feelings in set-pieces and written dialogue. Here, the continuous take floored me with three emotions: starting with dark amusement, then strange awkwardness, then horrific heartbreak. It's a scene that proves conventions are flying out the window and emotions are flying in. This is special.

This movie is a downer, and there's no reason to knock it for that. I wanted to explore the later half of the film more. It seemed to be venturing into a fascinating psychological study, which was good, but it wasn't through Jonathan's eyes. This is about his story and how he sees his mother and family. I felt Jonathan was trying to get me to feel angry towards the mental institutions and the ones who have done the terrible things to him (foster parents, his own parents, etc.). He even leaves out his own friends who we're in the film for very little, yet had a massive impact on his culture and mindset. It would have been nice to explore them more.

But this is about Jonathan and I can safely say I have never seen anything like this before. It's a crazy, wild, moving and fractured picture of a shattered youth who had to grow up. Jonathan is a man with some serious talent, and some serious problems in his life. He does what cinema is supposed to do: make you care. You fall hard for his up comings and shortcomings. You hurt when tragedy strikes his life. You remain hypnotized when he edits the delirious fever dreams he had. This is everything that film should, can and will do to you, and it works incredibly well. Damned from the start (hence Tarnation) Jonathan overcomes adversity, finally able to show who he is thanks to Gun Van Sant and John Cameron Mitchell (the executive producers). It has no plot, no written characters, no structure or line of thought, it is what any filmmaker does on a regular basis: creating.