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Tarnation [DVD]

DVD ~ Jonathan Caouette

3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

RRP:	�19.99
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This item: Tarnation [DVD] DVD ~ Jonathan Caouette
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	84% buy the item featured on this page: Tarnation [DVD] 3.8 out of 5 stars (6) �3.88
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Product details

Actors: Jonathan Caouette, Renee Leblanc, Adolph Davis, Rosemary Davis, David Sanin Paz
Directors: Jonathan Caouette
Writers: Jonathan Caouette
Producers: Jonathan Caouette, Gus Van Sant, Jason Banker, John Cameron Mitchell, Marie Therese Guirgis
Format: PAL
Language English
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: 15
Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 25 Jul 2005
Run Time: 88 minutes

Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

ASIN: B0009PGTD8
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 14,371 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Synopsis

TARNATION is a wondrous achievement, a personal essay that miraculously balances despair and tragedy with an overriding air of hopefulness. Raised by a schizophrenic mother and abusive foster parents in and around Houston, Texas, Jonathan Caouette escaped from his bleak surroundings by hiding behind a video camera. Since he was eleven, Jonathan obsessively documented himself and those around him, resulting in a stockpile of videotapes that appeared to have no certain purpose. Around this time, he made another dramatic discovery: he was gay. Inspired by underground horror films, musical theatre, and other forms of pop culture, Jonathan knew that he one day wanted to be a performer, and so, in his early twenties, he moved to New York City, where he acted in student films and found stability in the form of his loving boyfriend, David. When he discovered Apple's easy-to-use iMovie editing software, Jonathan began the arduous process of assembling the endless footage of his past. The result is an autobiographical documentary that defies description, a heart-wrenching, devastating testament to personal human spirit. Even after all that his mother put him through, Caouette heroically stands behind her, which gives TARNATION its unwavering soul and makes it must-see viewing for everyone.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One man's love for his mother, 9 Aug 2005

By	"marcus_jb" - See all my reviews

This really is something this film. It has taken over 20 years to put together.

Essentially a biography of a family told using photos, videos, audio recordings taken over the years.

These images and movies are cut together with a soundtrack from the likes of Low and Iron and Wine and are 'narrated' by stark overlaid text.

The film was apparently produced for next to nothing using nothing more than an iMac and it's stark simplicity simply hypnotises you.

It is the story of the film-maker (Jonathon Caouette), his mother and his grand-parents. He was raised by his grand-parents whilst his mother underwent years of barbaric treatment in psychiatric wards - all sanctioned by her parents. A terrible tale of a woman who, initially, had nothing wrong with her and was subjected to hundreds of electro-shock therapy sessions and eventually a lithium overdose. This radically changed a beautiful, ex-model into a disturbed, yet still vibrant women.

Her son shows her the kind of love that really hits home. Incredibly touching displays of his commitment to her.

Overall, it is a very sad story which warms the heart. You can not look away from the screen for a second as the perfect cadence of the film beats on. It'll upset you and make you feel great all at once. And you will ring your mother at the end of it.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic but flawed achievement., 18 Jan 2006

By	D. Payne "coflowdave" (Teesside) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The fact that this allegedly cost around $260 dollars to make is incredible and gives great hope for the future of cinema and also great dread that any old fool with a video camera will soon be clogging up our already limited arthouse cinema screentime with their introspective woes. This is an extremely heartbreaking story of a mother possibly misdiagnosed with mental problems and subsequently driven to madness by the 'treatment'. And that is the only problem with the film. My sympathies lie firmly with the director's mother and not the director whose crying in front of camera seemed rather more self-pitying than genuine. Call me hard-hearted (you may well be right) but would someone that filled with grief really wait to set up a camera in a bathroom before breaking down in front of it? Regardless, the film deserves to be seen by as large an audience as possible.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Overrated, 13 April 2006

By	Demob Happy "jamesewan" (London / Grenoble) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Jonathan Caouette's highly personal film lends itself more to installational video art than to cinema or even documentary. Its frenetic visual style, using splices of camcorder and digital video footage taken over a twenty year period, often detracts from what might be of interest on camera itself. There is too much lo-fi trickery for the viewer to become especially involved in what is undeniably an extraordinary family history. This is frustrating because footage obviously exists that would be able to comprise a fantastic documentary - think of Capturing the Friedmans or Grizzly Man. But unlike those films Caouette is often preoccupied with convincing the viewer of his drug-damaged worldview (we are told he became "depersonalised" after smoking PCP) through a maddening bombardment of imagery, rather than letting the real people and emotions doing the talking.

Some of the imagery is interesting, but much of it derivative and excessive. Caouette is obviously trying to achieve something more subjectivised and abstract than a straight-forward documentary, but then the effect - as with much of the gallery-based video art it resembles - is more alienating than perhaps is intended. The more he experiments with video form, the more the content is debased to sheer spectacle. Moreover, when Caouette turns the camera on himself in the film's present - willing himself to confront his family - it seems contrived, as if he can't find a way to create closure for his film without forcing an ending. Highly overrated, and not to be confused with the current renaissance in documentary cinema (including some of the films I have mentioned above).

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Narcissism and little else.
Tarnation is a product of its time. In a world of reality TV and voyeurism as entertainment garbage such as this garners critical acclaim. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Mr. D. J. ODRISCOLL

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
This film is a work of art. Through a variety of mediums Caouette has created something beautifully devastating. Read more

Published on 20 Jan 2007 by t.s

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique
This is a film that you don't watch for entertainment. Its a painful story that you have to absorb yourself into. Read more

Published on 3 May 2006 by John

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