Tarnation
Encyclopedia
Tarnation is a 2003 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. It was initially made for a total budget of $218.32, using free iMovie
software on a Mac. (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.) 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.
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.
and Steve Kilbey
(HEX), Lisa Germano
, The Cocteau Twins
, Dolly Parton
, Low, Mark Kozelek
, Glen Campbell
, The Magnetic Fields
, Iron and Wine, The Chocolate Watch Band, Mavis Staples
, Red House Painters
, Marianne Faithfull
and many more. Orchestral cues for the film were composed by John Califra. Max Avery Lichtenstein
wrote several original instrumental songs for the film, including the film's recurring theme "Tarnation".
The film's trailer features orchestral music by John Califra, "Tarnation" by Max Avery Lichtenstein, and the song "Safe As Milk" by the band Hopewell
.
No soundtrack compilation album has been released, but a digital E.P. featuring selections of Max Avery Lichtenstein's original music for the film was released in 2005 by Tin Drum Recordings.
's 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.
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.
Caouette's next completed film is All Tomorrow's Parties.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Jonathan Caouette
Jonathan Caouette
Jonathan Caouette is an American film director, writer, editor and actor. Caouette is the director and editor of Tarnation , an autobiographical documentary, and director of All Tomorrow's Parties about a cult music festival.-Films:...
.
The film was created by Caouette from over 20 years of hundreds of hours of old Super 8
Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
footage, VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
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
IMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
software on a Mac. (As an early supporter, film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
notes, $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 awards including Best Documentary from the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
, the Independent Spirits, the Gotham Awards
Gotham Awards
The Gotham Awards is an annual ceremony of awards presented to the makers of independent films which takes place in New York City...
, and the LA and London International Film Festivals.
Content
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. She did not need this electroshock therapy, which resulted in lifelong insanity. 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
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
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.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack uses songs by Donnette ThayerDonnette Thayer
Donnette Thayer is a vocalist and guitarist most active in the 1980s and early 1990s underground rock scenes. Thayer has been described as "the enchantress" , "a suave successor to California flower-pop" , and "Gaea personified"...
and Steve Kilbey
Steve Kilbey
Steven John Kilbey is the lead singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for The Church, an Australian rock band. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter....
(HEX), Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano
Lisa Germano is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released seven albums featuring her often-hushed vocal style, confessional lyrics, and distinctive violin. Her 1994 album Geek the Girl received widespread critical acclaim, including being featured as a top album of...
, The Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Low, Mark Kozelek
Mark Kozelek
Mark Kozelek is an American singer/songwriter Producer and frontman of Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters.-History:...
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, The Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...
, Iron and Wine, The Chocolate Watch Band, Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress and civil rights activist who recorded with The Staple Singers, her family's band.-Biography:...
, Red House Painters
Red House Painters
Red House Painters were an alternative rock group formed in 1989 in San Francisco, California by singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek.-History:While in Atlanta, Georgia, Ohio-born Kozelek became friends with Anthony Koutsos, a drummer. He then moved to San Francisco, California, adding guitarist Gorden...
, Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
and many more. Orchestral cues for the film were composed by John Califra. Max Avery Lichtenstein
Max Avery Lichtenstein
Max Avery Lichtenstein is a record producer, composer and song-writer based in North Salem, New York. He's produced records with such artists as Mercury Rev, Hopewell and The Silent League. He composed the soundtrack for Jonathan Caouette's movie Tarnation and for the 2005 James Bai film...
wrote several original instrumental songs for the film, including the film's recurring theme "Tarnation".
The film's trailer features orchestral music by John Califra, "Tarnation" by Max Avery Lichtenstein, and the song "Safe As Milk" by the band Hopewell
Hopewell
-USA:*Hopewell, Alabama *Hopewell, Arkansas *Hopewell, California*Hopewell, Connecticut *Hopewell, Florida...
.
No soundtrack compilation album has been released, but a digital E.P. featuring selections of Max Avery Lichtenstein's original music for the film was released in 2005 by Tin Drum Recordings.
History
Caouette was shaping his material when he sent in an audition tape for John Cameron MitchellJohn Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
's Shortbus
Shortbus
Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...
. 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
MIX NYC
MIX NYC is a not-for-profit organization based in New York City and dedicated to queer experimental film. It is also known as the "MIX festival," for its most visible program, the annual New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival.- History :...
, 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
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
, who was also deeply moved by the film. Both he and Mitchell signed on executive producers.
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
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in the Frontier Section. There it was invited to appear in the 2004 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
Directors' Fortnight
Directors' Fortnight
Directors' Fortnight is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. The section was created in 1969 after the events of May 1968, in which the Cannes festival was canceled in solidarity with striking workers....
. 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.
Caouette's next completed film is All Tomorrow's Parties.