Tarnation

Famously made for less than $300, Tarnation often feels more like an art school project than an actual film due to director Jonathan Caouette’s chaotic sense of style – which generally seems like it’d be more at home in a Nine Inch Nails video. The film deals with Caouette’s family, specifically the systematic mistreatment of his mother and how that impacted on his life. Using old home movies and pictures, Caouette’s assembled a collage documenting the timeline of events (including his mom’s multiple stints at psychiatric hospitals and Caouette’s foray into the world of underground filmmaking). The movie’s style is distinctly anarchistic and disorienting – to the extent that it’s not difficult to imagine certain audience members lacking the patience to sit through the whole thing. Because of Caouette’s heavy reliance on oddball visual techniques – split screen, graininess, repetitive footage, etc – Tarnation is either engrossing or headache-inducing. Yet there’s no denying that Caouette’s tragic life is great fodder for a film, particularly as one terrible thing after another befalls his family. Having said that, it seems fairly obvious that the movie would’ve been far more effective had Caouette reigned in some of his over-the-top directorial choices.

**1/2 out of ****