My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009)

Inspired by a true crime, a man begins to experience mystifying events that lead him to slay his mother with a sword.

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writers:

Herbert Golder, Werner Herzog

Stars:

Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, Chloë Sevigny

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Shannon	...	Brad Macallam
Willem Dafoe	...	Detective Havenhurst
Chloë Sevigny	...	Ingrid Gudmundson
Udo Kier	...	Lee Meyers
Michael Peña	...	Detective Vargas
Grace Zabriskie	...	Mrs Macallam
Brad Dourif	...	Uncle Ted
Irma P. Hall	...	Mrs Roberts (as Irma Hall)
Loretta Devine	...	Ms Roberts
Candice Coke	...	Officer Slocum
Gabriel Pimentel	...	Little Man
Braden Lynch	...	Gary
James C. Burns	...	Brown
Noel Arthur	...	Naval Guard
Julius Morck	...	Phil (as Julius Mørck)

Storyline

The police are called to a murder scene and quickly discover that the murderer, the victim's son, is holed up in his house with two hostages. Through a series of interviews with both the murderer's fiancée and his theatre director the police piece together a picture of a man losing touch with reality.

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Plot Keywords:

scene of the crime | police | sword | hostage | murder | 

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Taglines:

The Mystery Isn't Who. But Why.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the cast and crew on Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) reunited with director Werner Herzog to produce this film. Major examples include actors Michael Shannon, Brad Dourif and Irma P. Hall, cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger, and editor Joe Bini.

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Goofs

In the escalator scene, which takes place in Calgary but which was filmed at the San Diego Convention Center, one can clearly see a row of palm trees outside.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Detective Vargas: Do you want me to take the wheel Hank?
Detective Hank Havenhurst: No, no - it's no problem. I've driven halfway across the country with one hand.

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Connections

Referenced in They Came Together (2014)

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Soundtracks

Rainy Season
Written by Ernst Reijseger
Performed by The Ernst Reijseger Ensemble

User Reviews

Small but classic Herzog

OK, maybe you have to be a Herzog fan to get this one. In its small and quiet way it's a classic Herzogian study of visionary madness and obsession, played out this time with mordant irony against the blandness of suburban San Diego. Brad, a brooding man-child who lives with his mom, gradually goes nuts, saying and doing increasingly unhinged (and funny) things to his clueless loved ones, played by goofy character actors like Udo Kier, Grace Zabriskie and Chloe Sevigny. Willem Dafoe plays the equally clueless detective called in when Brad, inevitably, explodes in a single (off-screen) act of violence. All the usual Herzog flourishes are here, though often played small: odd animals, oddball people, grimly threatening nature, useless bureaucratic procedures, civilization and its hapless inhabitants struggling to maintain order and etiquette in the face of the world's natural madness, violence and chaos. It's a wacky, Herzogian comedy of manners, very much in the tradition of many of his films from Dwarfs through Stroszek to Grizzly Man. If you like Herzog you'll probably like it; if not, maybe not.

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 2010 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

Filming Locations:

San Diego Convention Center - 111 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$76,739

Company Credits

Production Co:

Defilm, Industrial Entertainment, Paper Street Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1