Tarnation (2003)

Director:

Jonathan Caouette

Writer:

Jonathan Caouette (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 2004 (France)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Tagline:

Your greatest creation is the life you lead

Plot:

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

Plot Keywords:

Video Diary | Schizophrenic | Answering Machine | Lithium | Home Movie

Awards:

8 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Renee Leblanc	...	Herself
Jonathan Caouette	...	Himself
Adolph Davis	...	Himself
Rosemary Davis	...	Herself
David Sanin Paz	...	Himself
Joshua Williams	...	Himself
Michael Cox	...	Guy cussing in short film
David Leblanc	...	Himself
Stacey Mowery	...	Herself
Michael Mouton	...	Himself
Greg Ayres	...	Himself (as Bam-Bam)
Vanda Stovall	...	Herself
Dagon James	...	Himself
Vivian Kalinov	...	Herself (as Girl in Student Film)
Steve Caouette	...	Himself
Lisa Berri	...	Blue Velvet cast
Kelli Brisbane	...	Blue Velvet cast (as Kellie Brisbane)
Mike Smith Rivera	...	Blue Velvet cast (as Apocalypse Clown)
Miek Coccia	...	Blue Velvet cast
Caity Creitz	...	Blue Velvet cast
Daniel Letterle	...	Blue Velvet cast
Sterling Price McKinney	...	Blue Velvet cast
Michael Sillery	...	Blue Velvet cast
Layard Thompson	...	Blue Velvet cast

Directed by
Jonathan Caouette

Writing credits
Jonathan Caouette		(written by)

Produced by
Vanessa Arteaga	....	executive producer
Jason Banker	....	associate producer
Jonathan Caouette	....	producer
Marie Therese Guirgis	....	executive producer
John Cameron Mitchell	....	executive producer
Gus Van Sant	....	executive producer
Ryan Werner	....	executive producer
Stephen Winter	....	producer

Original Music by
John Califra
Max Avery Lichtenstein

Cinematography by
Jonathan Caouette

Film Editing by
Jonathan Caouette
Brian A. Kates		(co-editor)

Production Management
Robert Warmflash	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Jonathan Caouette	....	sound
Sean England	....	digital archivist
Lora Hirschberg	....	sound re-recording mixer
Brandon Proctor	....	sound mix technician
Daniel Sperry	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (as Dan Sperry)

Visual Effects by
Jason Banker	....	digital effects

Editorial Department
George Bunce	....	on-line editor: high definition video
Don Ciana	....	color timer
Michael Haertlein	....	post-production assistant
Peter Heady	....	on-line editor: HDTV
Florence Holdeman	....	assistant editor
Brian Patchett	....	assistant editor: high definition
Jamila Qazi	....	editing coordinator
Shelby Siegel	....	additional editor

Music Department
Jim Black	....	music supervisor
John Califra	....	orchestral score producer
John Califra	....	orchestrator
Milan Cimfe	....	orchestral score producer
Milan Cimfe	....	score ProTools operator
William David Fastenow	....	music copyist
Pavel Karlik	....	assistant to score recording engineer
Pavel Karlik	....	orchestral score producer

Other crew
Mickey Cottrell	....	publicist
Tristan Cowen	....	assistant to producer
Peter Cross	....	legal counsel
Mayur Deshmukh	....	production assistant
Don Farber	....	legal counsel
Tenley Gillmore	....	production assistant
Michael Haertlein	....	production assistant
Roberta Morris Purdee	....	rights and clearances
Troy Nuyens	....	production assistant
Joe Pagano	....	plant manager
Wade H.W. Rudolph	....	production assistant (as Wade Rudolph)
Tracey Soast	....	video coordinator
Joe Violante	....	technical advisor

Thanks
James Bolton	....	special thanks
Tristan Cowen	....	thanks
Roger Ebert	....	thanks
Krystal Kennedy	....	thanks
Paul Morrissey	....	thanks
Dolly Parton	....	thanks
David Sanin Paz	....	special thanks
Michael Sillery	....	special thanks
Stephen Sprouse	....	special thanks
Michael Thornton	....	thanks
Dany Wolf	....	thanks

Distributors

• Filmmuseum Distributie (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Herald Film Company (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• U Talkin 2 Me (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Wellspring Media (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• BBC Storyville (2006) (UK) (TV)
• Four Films (2006) (Chile) (all media)

Other Companies

• F.I.L.M. Archives  archival film
• Home Movie Project  super 8 transfers
• Karmic Release Ltd.  rights and clearances
• Postworks New York  digital intermediate
• Skywalker Sound  post-production sound
• Sono Recording Studios  score recorded at (as Sono Studios)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min | Argentina:88 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | Norway:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Australia:M | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:14 (video rating) | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Trivia:

The original cut of the film ran over 2 hrs. and 40 minutes long.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Renee Leblanc:[singing] This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

Movie Connections:

Features The Devil's Rain (1975)

Soundtrack:

Sesame Street Theme

Your greatest creation is the life you lead.

In the world of documentaries, Tarnation ranks among one of the best that I have seen. Sometimes with a low-budget outing it is hard to judge the quality of the final product, but Jonathan Caouette proves that he has a passion for the subject, a desire to tell his story and a know-how to bring his moments to life. With bold music (that nearly grips your heart at every turn) and an Andy Warhol style of imagery, Caouette pulls us deep within his life and shows us his life unfiltered. Using just his computer, he builds the story of his life using scenes taken from nineteen years in front (and behind) the camera. It reminded me of Capturing the Friedmans, except with more heart and soul. We are taken through a broad range of emotions which include fear, surprise, excitement, and distraught as we witness the decline of our narrator. Tarnation is a man's bold expression to tell the story of his life, and for me, it worked wonders on my soul and mind.

What makes Caouette's documentary impressive is that you sometimes forget that he is the one creating the masterpiece. Since he is in front of the camera from a young age until thirty years later, it is easy for one to forget that he is creating these images for us. I think that is important for us to remember because he places every snapshot, every audio, and every snippet of video in the film to show a purpose. While we all can watch the film and derive our purpose or point about the film (which is what makes cinema amazing), I saw it as this very sad and vicious circle of life. Mother lives with parents, who are mentally unstable, she eventually is that way as well, which then slowly translates onto her son. It is a sad and destructive cycle that happens daily in America as well as around the world. It is a central focus to many of our films and media, the idea that if you grow up in an environment of chaos, you will eventually create that same chaos years later. It is a wild thought that can be visually seen in the film Tarnation.

Outside of the broad range of emotions that were surging through me while I watched this riveting piece of art, there were some elements that I just thought were bold, creative, and extremely stylish. I loved the use of words to tell the story. Normally, in these documentaries you are forced to listen to that calming voice telling you what is happening, what did happen, and what will happen next. In this film, Caouette uses the typed words to give us both that sensation of neutrality (and sometimes numbness) and to honestly focus our attention towards the images on screen. There are times when the voice-over technique can become overpowering, and you begin to focus yourself onto the words of the narrator, instead of the events unfolding on screen. With the typed words from Caouette, we focus on him, his mother, and the environment that is imploding around him.

Also, the music. One cannot talk about this film without mentioning the soundtrack to this film. You know those moments where you need to express yourself and the only way that works is by making a mixed CD? Well, this is Caouette's mixed CD. The music choice for the film seemed to come from his heart, from his passion spawned this music. Not only was I listening to some great songs for the first time, but this was just another avenue for me to understand Jonathan and the world in which he resides. The music really help set the mood and tone for the entire film. It helped build the tension and give us that raw human emotion that built the foundation to this movie. Jonathan's mother was the main character of this film, then I would say that the music was the co-star. This film would not have been as effective if it wasn't for the amazing sound choices.

Finally, I would like to say that Caouette has built a masterpiece here. He has taken a personal story and created more emotions and personality than most Hollywood big budget productions could have. It was real. This is something that Hollywood continues to strive for, but cannot quite reach it. Caouette has, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did it again. I think what I loved so much about this film is that it is another story about our world. I don't think we see enough real-life stories about our neighbors and friends, but instead are bombarded with superficial heroes that are paid more money than we will ever see and somehow always win the perfect girl at the end. Happiness is not always the ending to every story.

Overall, I was impressed. This was an outstanding film that deserves every bit of recognition that is handed to it. Caouette has created a masterpiece and is changing with this film the face of documentaries. I expect to see rip-offs of this popping up in the near future. He inspires those of us who want to create our own stories to do so, and is a pioneer of the struggling filmmaker. I suggest this film to all my friends and family, not just for the cinematic pleasure that is contained in it, but also because Caouette could be the modern day Warhol … at least that is what I saw when I witnessed the power of this film. Wow.

Bravo Mr. Caouette, Bravo!!!

Grade: ***** out of *****