Tarnation (film)
| Tarnation | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Jonathan Caouette |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Jonathan Caouette |
| Starring | Jonathan Caouette |
| Music by |
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| Cinematography | Jonathan Caouette |
| Edited by |
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| Distributed by | Wellspring Media |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $218.32 |
| Box office | $1.2 million |
Tarnation is a 2003 American documentary film by Jonathan Caouette. The film was created by Caouette from over 20 years of 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.
The film was initially made for a total budget of $218.32, using free iMovie software on a Mac. Film critic Roger Ebert, an early supporter, said $400,000 more was eventually spent by the distributor on sound, print, score and music/clip clearances to bring the film to theaters. The film went on to win the Best Documentary Award from the National Society of Film Critics, the Independent Spirits, the Gotham Awards, as well as the L.A. and London International Film Festivals.
Tarnation is an autobiographical documentary focusing 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 settled in the Houston area with his grandparents, Adolph and Rosemary Davis, who despite personality quirks provided a supportive family for him. The film explores Caouette's life as he negotiates his complicated relationship with his mother as her child, friend and ultimately, parental figure while developing 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 approximately 11-year-old Caouette improvising a monologue as a woman in an abusive relationship.
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