Tarnation (film)

Infobox Film
name = Tarnation


director = Jonathan Caouette
producer = Stephen Winter
writer = Jonathan Caouette
starring = Jonathan Caouette Renee LeBlanc Rosemary Davis Adolph Davis David Sanin Paz
music = Max Lichtenstein
cinematography = Jonathan Caouette
editing = Jonathan Caouette Brian A. Kates
distributor =
released = October 6 2004
runtime = 100 min.
country = United States
language = English
budget = $218.32
preceded_by =
followed_by =
tv_rating =
amg_id = 1:301789
imdb_id = 0390538

"Tarnation" is a 2003 documentary film by Jonathan Caouette.

The 88-minute long film was created by Caouette over 20 years from hundreds of hours of old Super 8 footage, VHS videotape, photographs and answering machine messages to tell the story of his life and his relationship with his mentally ill mother Renee. It was initially made for a total budget of $218.32, using free iMovie software on a Macintosh computer. (As an early supporter, film critic Roger Ebert notes, $400,000 more was eventually spent by the distributor on sound, print, score and music/clip clearances to bring the film to theaters. [ [http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2005/11/12/entertainment/documentarymakersrallyforfairuse.html?page=2 Documentary makers rally for fair use] , from tiscali.co.uk: "Citing dozens of examples, they contend, for instance, that the budget of Jonathan Caouette's homemade 2004 documentary "Tarnation" ballooned from $218 to $400,000, "using most of the eventual budget to clear rights."] ) The film went on to win awards including Best Documentary from the National Society of Film Critics, the Independent Spirits, the Gotham Awards, and the LA and London International Film Festivals.

Content

"Tarnation" is an autobiographical documentary that focuses on Caouette's early life and adulthood, as well as his mother, Renee LeBlanc, who was treated with electroshock in her youth. With an absent father and a mother who struggled with mental illness, Caouette eventually settles in the Houston area with his grandparents, Adolph and Rosemary Davis, who despite personality quirks are able to provide a supportive family structure for him. The film explores Caouette's life as he negotiates his ongoing complicated relationship with his mother as child, friend and ultimately, parental figure to her while continuing to develop his creativity as an actor, writer and director.

Caouette came out as gay at a young age and moved to New York City at age 25, eventually finding a boyfriend named David Sanin Paz. They both live in New York City today. As documented in the film, his mother has lived with them at times and they've formed an unusual family. A scene early in the movie has an 11-or-so-year old Caouette improvising a monologue as a woman in an abusive relationship. [http://jonathancaouette.blogspot.com/2004/10/tarnation-reviews-links.html]

The soundtrack uses songs by Donnette Thayer and Steve Kilbey (HEX), Lisa Germano, the Cocteau Twins, Dolly Parton, Low, Mark Kozelek, Glen Campbell, The Magnetic Fields, Iron and Wine, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Mavis Staples, Red House Painters, Marianne Faithfull and many more. Two songs, "Tarnation" and "Desperation" were composed by Max Avery Lichtenstein for the end credits. "Safe As Milk" by the band Hopewell was used in the trailer.

History

Caouette was shaping his material when he sent in an audition tape for John Cameron Mitchell's film "Shortbus". The tape contained the footage of an 11-year-old Jonathan imitating a battered wife. Mitchell was impressed and encouraged him to continue working on the film. He alerted Stephen Winter, then the artistic director of MIX NYC, the New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival. Stephen became the producer of "Tarnation". A tape found its way to Mitchell's friend, Gus Van Sant, who was also deeply moved by the film. Both he and Mitchell signed on executive producers. [http://www.laweekly.com/news/features/what-in-tarnation/1278/]

The November 2003 world premiere of the movie at MIX in was much more abstract in nature, running about two hours. With input from Mitchell, Winter, and co-editor Brian A. Kates, Caouette shot new footage and edited the film down to about 90 minutes for its screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in the Frontier Section. There it was invited to appear in the 2004 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight. The filmmakers didn't have the $30,000 to make a film print for the festival but at the last minute respected art house distributor Wellspring picked it up and brought it to Cannes where it garnered great critical acclaim and worldwide distribution. [http://www.laweekly.com/news/features/what-in-tarnation/1278/]

Today Caouette is working on a documentary about All Tomorrow's Parties [http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2007/11/deep_in_the_hea.html]

About the film

*The poem recital at the beginning and end of the film are excerpts from Max Ehrmann's "Desiderata".

References

External links

* [http://jonathancaouette.blogspot.com/ Jonathan Caouette's Blog (about himself and Tarnation)]
*imdb title|id=0390538|title=Tarnation
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3720455.stm BBC website article about the screening at the Cannes Festival]