Undeniably moving, brilliantly edited autobiographical assemblage, particularly strong in its integration of the footage with well-chosen music tracks. Despite being quite narcissistic and closed in the centre (the historical and social context of the life is never explored), the film does nevertheless document a wider history than a personal one - that of both gay experience in the US and the disempowerment of individuals by an authoritarian and harmful medical establishment. There is something uncomfortable about the degree with which Caouette needs to have a film camera in his own and his loved-ones' face every time something traumatic happens or is harked back to, but this makes him an emblematic representative of a generation which has been brought up with filmed media mediating all aspects of the real.
The film's faults are the faults of American culture - soap operatic concentration on the trials and tribulations of intrapersonal relationships and a self-involved revolving around personal issues; but curiously, the films Americanism is its strength as well, as it possesses enormous emotional candour and real heart. It will be interesting to see if Caouette can apply his film-making acumen to subjects other than himself.
It has to be admitted that Tarnation would never have got anywhere if he hadn't been so personally photogenic and physically attractive. The indie and gay establishment wouldn't have been interested in the traumas of a fat, ugly, charisma-less queen...
The film's faults are the faults of American culture - soap operatic concentration on the trials and tribulations of intrapersonal relationships and a self-involved revolving around personal issues; but curiously, the films Americanism is its strength as well, as it possesses enormous emotional candour and real heart. It will be interesting to see if Caouette can apply his film-making acumen to subjects other than himself.
It has to be admitted that Tarnation would never have got anywhere if he hadn't been so personally photogenic and physically attractive. The indie and gay establishment wouldn't have been interested in the traumas of a fat, ugly, charisma-less queen...