Jonathan Caouette’s first feature film, Tarnation is made entirely of imagery produced using amateur recording technologies–home movies, snapshots, photo booth pictures, etc.. A ‘tour de force’ of ‘autobiographical’ filmmaking, as well as a heartbreaking documentary on the filmmaker’s mother, the film offers striking testament to the important role amateur recording technologies play in our lives. Mostly self-recorded, Caouette’s material is typical of the non-professonial production: taken ‘on-the-fly’, casually framed, often poorly lit and focused, the pictures seem all the more truthful, certainly more urgent because of their relative ‘rawness’.
Additionally, the film’s account of Jonathan’s youth and his mother’s mental illness is made even more affective because the filmmaker is so intimately connected to his subject, he is the film’s key witness and one of principle subjects. However, the film is not without some ‘false notes’. According to Caouette himself, the finished work is not a complete account of his past. Also significant: Caouette’s mother was not aware that her son was making a documentary when she appeared before the camera, nor was she asked permission to use the imagery before the film was released, both situations that give rise to some ethical concerns. Should Jonathan have asked his mother for permission before he filmed or released the finished work? Do the holes in the film’s story make the story less truthful or ‘real’.
Homework: Before next week’s class, please read one of the two reviews linked below and be prepared for a discussion of the film and the social value and ethical considerations of using amateur technologies.
“Cheap, dysfunctional family viewing” Sarah Rowland, The Montreal Mirror
“The man who was raised by a movie camera” Julie Salaman, The New York TImes
