Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)

A portrait of the effects of schizophrenia on family life is the central focus.

Stars:

Ewen Bremner, Brian Fisk, Chloë Sevigny

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ewen Bremner	...	Julien
Brian Fisk	...	Pond Boy
Chloë Sevigny	...	Pearl (as Chloe Sevigny)
Werner Herzog	...	Father
Joyce Korine	...	Grandma
Evan Neumann	...	Chris
Miriam Martínez	...	Teenage Girl (as Miriam Martinez)
Edgar Erikkson	...	Bearded Man
James Moix	...	Dancing Man
Victor Varnado	...	Rapper
Oliver A. Bueno	...	Bowler
Roger Harris	...	Bowler
Josseph Padilla	...	Bowler
Olivia Pérez	...	Bowler (as Olivia Perez)
Freddie Perez	...	Bowler

Storyline

"O, mio babbino caro" plays as a woman skates gracefully. In contrast, little is graceful and daddy is not dear in Julien's world. His father listens to blues wearing a gas mask; dad prods, lectures, and derides Julien as well as Julien's brother and pregnant sister, while grandma attends to her dog. Julien is different, schizophrenic. He wears gold teeth. He bowls, sings, worships, and chats with a group of young adults with disabilities. His sister's child is probably his own. He talks on the phone, imagining it's his mother, who died in childbirth years before. He may be a murderer of children. From his point of view (perhaps), the film follows this odd family for a few weeks.

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Plot Keywords:

schizophrenic | dog | teeth | childbirth | gas mask | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexuality and disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 September 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

Dogme # 6 - Julien Donkey-Boy

Filming Locations:

Yonkers, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$11,845 (USA) (8 October 1999)

Gross:

$80,226 (USA) (5 November 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

391 Productions, Forensic Films, Independent Pictures (III)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Harmony Korine originally wanted his uncle to be in the film.

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Quotes

Rapper: I'm a black albino straight from Alabama...

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Connections

References Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972)

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Soundtracks

"String Quartet in F Major, op. 96, 1st Movement (American)"
Composed by Antonín Dvorák
Performed by The Takács Quartet (as Takacs Quartet)

User Reviews

Twisted

As people see things, things see us. This extremely disturbing film about a man/boy with schizophrenia struggling through life with his twisted and mentally abusive dad, his sister who is pregnant with his baby, and his abused brother, is terrifyingly weird. With a film in which a boy is brutally smashed in the head with a stone and choked to death, a nun masturbates on the floor, and a armless man plays the drums, it is completely obvious that this film will only appeal to certain people. This film is freakish, but not in as good a way as GUMMO was. With all this being said, while the film was a hellish and emotional picture that is not for the mainstream(to say the least), I would never ever want to really see it again. This was just too much. It made me feel unclean in a way much deeper tan GUMMO. I felt my mind was permanently warped. I never want to even think about this film ever again. Thinking about it makes me feel nauseous. The images and the characters and the actions of them have gotten to me and Of course, this was probably Harmony Korine's intention. Many viewers won't feel the images they are seeing are necessary to for the to see. It is kind of a freak show in a way. It isn't so much the content that is bad. There are many events in the film that just feel wrong. Take for instance the scene where Julien attempts to sell skating shoes he made. He attempts to sell them to a boy who does not listen to what he has to say about his purportedly useless invention and instead swears and yells at him, telling him in exaggerated form that the shoes will kill people and that he wouldn't pay any money for them. The scene has no purpose other than to seemingly be insulting and depressing to the viewer who has already had their fair share of depressing events throughout the film. And yet it is done in such a way that is very lifelike and very realistic in terms of how the scene is constructed, but it seems so weird to want to film this sort of behavior. It has also been well known that for this film project, Harmony recorded real people's reactions of some of the strange behavior with hidden cameras. This adds genuine realism to the film along with the nasty stuff, as if it didn't have enough. It's a tough film to sit through. I think it's a good film, but I don't recommend it for fear that people will think I'm a sicko for thinking they will like it.