SummaryJonathan Caouette's film reimagines the whole idea of what a documentary can be. He weaves a psychedelic whirlwind of snapshots, Super-8 home movies, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, snippets of 80s pop culture and dramatic reenactments to create an epic portrait of an American family torn apart by dysfunction and reu... Read More
Directed By:Jonathan Caouette
Written By:Jonathan Caouette
Tarnation
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
87
User score
Mixed or Average
5.9
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
87
94% Positive
30 Reviews
30 Reviews
6% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
It is a remarkable film, immediate, urgent, angry, poetic and stubbornly hopeful.
100
Caouette has used art, wit and a huge heart to forge his experiences into an unqualified masterpiece.
90
A remarkable and remarkably compelling document.
88
The movie is such an intense, disturbing and exhilarating experience, even five more minutes might have felt like too much.
80
In this case, the subject and director are one and the same, and the result is a degree of intimacy--really of rawness--rarely achieved in film.
75
An impassioned documentary about a damaged American family, includes moments that seem to cross the line of what is emotionally acceptable to show onscreen.
58
I reckon that for everyone who's enthralled by the film there will be others who wish they'd heard about it rather than seen it.
User score
Mixed or Average
5.9
56% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
17% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
28% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Jun 18, 2012
10
This is the film I gaurantee you have never ever seen before and unavoidably, will stuck in your head for the rest of your life. The most powerful and inspirational piece of documentary feature and is considered,personally, to be the true triumph of the film's world. [Harrowing, Hopeful, Remarkable, Masterpiece!]
Production Company:
- Tarnation Films
- Wellspring Media
Release Date:Oct 6, 2004
Duration:1 h 28 m
Tagline:Your greatest creation is the life you lead
Awards
Cannes Film Festival
• 3 Nominations
Chlotrudis Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
