Tarnation DVD - May 17th, 2005
posted by Jonathan Caouette at 10:18 PM
Friday, March 11, 2005
About Me
- Name: Jonathan Caouette
- Location: New York City, New York, United States
Jonathan Caouette // Director, Writer, Editor & Actor - The intention of this blog is to collect and link information about Jonathan and Tarnation in 1 central place. // Please feel free to add information you've come across that isn't found here or post comments. // Jonathan presently lives in New York with his partner David Sanin Paz. He's currently on a worldwide tour promoting Tarnation and we'll keep you up to date here. His mother Renee LeBlanc is living in Texas again, and is doing fine.
General Info Posts
The Music of TarnationImportant Links
MySpacejonathancaouette@gmail.com
Recent Posts
- Modesto Bee & Fairfield County Weekly articles
- Tarnation open in more theaters tomorrow
- Riverfront Times article
- If you show it, they will come...Tarnation opens i...
- "Blogumentary" video clips of Minneapolis Q&A
- Independent Spirit Award Best Documentary Nomination
- Hatfield Valley Advocate article
- Arizona Daily Wild Cat article
- Southern Voice.com article
- Tarnation open in more theaters today
57 Comments:
wow tarnation was amazing. i'm definitely buying it when it comes out on dvd.
I saw your film in The Mar del Plata International festival....I went to see some films expecting to see just one that would make me cry and when i saw tarnation i knew i had founded it .... I will never forget that movie ... and i mean it ... Congratulations and thank you!!
THANK GOD IT'S COMING TO DVD!!! - when I saw it in san antonio (my currrent place of residence) I was one of about 4 film geeks at the midnight showing of TARNATION and as a local youth film critic I hailed it as the BEST FILM OF THE YEAR (including commercial cinema)- my fellow filmmakers have been searching long and hard for the release date because we all agree that out of all the films of last year, the film we are the most anxious to see again is TARNATION - I am creaming in my pants that I have a date to look forward to - THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHNATHAN!!! YOU ARE A CINEMATIC MESSIAH! -check out my vlog at http://gnitseretni.blogspot.com
Hi!
Looking from some 'jonathan caouette' information on the internet, I gladly found that you have a blog!
I made a post about your film right now on my blog!
I'm from Portugal, and I saw Tarnation last week here in Coimbra (my hometown).
I went in the room without reading anything about it, just hearing some good critics of my friends and loving the film poster.
To be honest with you, at the beginning I thought that it wasn’t very good, just someone trying to be different without much quality… a few minutes passed and I completely surrender to your film! I just love it!
It was different, it was real, it was… fantastic! It’s hard to put it in words…
When the film was over, a still seated on my place, I read all the credits, and at the end I cried… not because of your movie! But because it made me think about life!
Congratulations!!
a kiss, with love,
Francisca Moreira
franciscamoreira@gmail.com
hi
i saw the film today - it is finally on release in london. it interested me because i have bipolar 1 and psychosis and take lithium so i wanted to see how it was dealt with. i thought the film was a horror film in the true sense - in that so much of what happened in the story was genuinely horrific and shocking. also it made me kind of see how i can appear to others when i'm ill. which was an eye opener! anyway, a good film, it was really interesting and the editing really gave a sense of psychosis.
hope you are all well now x
Thanks for so much beauty. :)
Hi Jonathan This is Alina from México do you remember me? I hope you still got my painting....
I'm so exited because your film is on DVD and I will defenetly buy it.... you know this is a very important film in my life. I will be in NY 10 to 27 of july and i hope we can meet and take a coup of tea haha
please write me back and i've also have a blog!!!
I will be pleased to to receive news from you...
Alina Poulain
www.livejournal.com/users/alina_poulain
alinapoulain@gmail.com
Hi all
just wanted to say that I saw your film on monday, in Liverpool, England. I'd read about it a while back and wanted to see it, but didnt think it would get as far as my little city! Thank god it did... it was a brilliant, moving and challanging film, which has definitley made an impact on me, and for the better. Filmmaking at its best!
i watched the DVD in an empty lecture hall tonight--the part about the blue velvet musical made me laugh so hard. thank you, thank you, thank you.
Jonathan,
I am so sorry i did not see this sooner. I have already watched it twice this weekend and plan on buying it as soon as possible.
Your film rocked on so many levels but the one that hit me the most was certainly the HONESTY!!! Fer chrissakes, people run from it all the time (including myself)- and it really is a shame. But you have captured truth- and we all make attempts but i don't know you and all i can say is that i hope this helps your personal grieving. Good luck in whatever pursuits may follow-
Jonathan, thank you for sharing your life, your pain, your family. You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. I loved your movie and it made me think (and cry) for my own son who is 18 now and hasn't lived with me in the past 4 years because of my own mental health issues. I was so touched by how much you love your mother. I am so happy that you found your birthfather!
Tarnation has reached the south coast of England :)
Thank you - what a wonderfully challenging, provocative film.
Dear Jonathan,
I had the priveledge of watching your film Tarnation last night on DVD. I just wanted to say that it was an incredibly haunting and beautiful film that I will never forget. I laughed, I Cried, I was very moved.
Thank you and Peace to you always~
Cheryl
Bolingbrook, Illinois
Well. Huh. Here I sit having just watched this movie, a gay guy in my early 30's, living in Brooklyn after fleeing the sun-belt state where I grew up in a chaotic household with a mentally-ill mother and an absent father. I'm not sure I've risen from the ashes of my beginnings to the degree the director has, but I suppose there's still time left.
I have little to say about the cinemacraft (word?) of this movie as that's not a subject I'm knowledgeable about, but the story in this case transcends the craft, as I suppose one would always want. Thank you, Jonathan, for sharing it, and thank heavens you had the competency to do so.
All the best luck with whatever you do next.
Mr. Caouette,
I really enjoyed Tarnation. I find myself still moved a day after seeing it. I'm a former film student turned composer -- mainly scoring small films. Your montage style storytelling and editing technique are beautiful. They're reminiscent of a concept I've been toying with over the years called cinematic opera. Though your story isn't an opera in the musical sense, it's music video style seems to hint at the possibility of a future convergence of cinema and contemporary/rock/electronic opera. I admire your courage in telling your difficult story. I look forward to seeing your future work.
Regards,
Ben Erickson
lunaris75@msn.com
Your story broke my heart.
This film helped put life in perspective.
I will always admire you for the perseverance of your love of family and life.
Thank you.
Dear Jonathan,
Thank you. I rented Tarnation without much thought toward it's content or artistry. It is a treasure I will be sharing with my family and friends.
I wish you and your family all the happiness and love the world has to offer.
You made something really beautiful with this film, Jonathan. Congratulations on your success, and thank you for doing what you needed to do to put your creation in places where other people like myself can appreciate it. Sincerely, sincerely, best wishes to you and your loved ones.
with love,
Sarah
a friend made me watch this, i had never heard of it..
the funny part is that vanda stovall was my roommate here on joe sayers in austin, please let her know i said hello.
todd wolfson
www.toddvwolfson.com
toddvw1@sbcglobal.net
oh and i LOVED the film, so personal and amazing..
I have just watched all but about the first 20 min of your film on IFC?(mabey sundance?) and I can't wait to see it all from the beginning. Me and my partner of 25 years(we are both 43yrs old now) now) couldn't take our eyes off of it. So moving, so touching, so honest and real, like nothing else you see today. I can't put into words exactly what I'm feeling but I wanted to say that you are a beautiful person inside and have so much to offer society. I have had a blessed life, nothing like anything your life has given to you in yet you have come through it with a strong sense of love and compasion it spite of it all! Your life is an inspirtation. It is a prime example of how no matter what your life deals you, you can rise above and still have a positive and meaningful life full of love and hope! Your story is going to touch so many people and do so much good in this world and I am certain of that! I'm sure many times you wondered why you had to go through all that, you know, the "why me" way of thinking that all of us humans go through at one point or another. It is so obvious to me that you went though all that so you could make this movie and help so many others who otherwise couldn't see hope, or a future. Your suffering is going to bring hope to people you will never meet. Your movie is going to help so many people better cope with a loved one with mental illness and that has to make you feel incredible! Your love and compassion(like what you showed for your mother) will be an example for many others dealing with the same issues. With this film your life has made a difference in this world and I am so proud of you! I don't know you from Adam, but feel compelled to reach out to you with love and understanding and tell you that you've done something really meaningful with your life. And as a gay man I am so proud to see a fellow gay person accomplish so much with so little, to be such a wonderful example of a human being. You are an inspiration, your just awsome! I wish for you, your partner, your mother and extended family continued good health and happiness and for the brightest future that you could possibly imagine! And if your ever in the Gulf Coast area please, please look us up. It would be an honor and a pleasure to get to meet you!
i saw your film on the sundance channel last night and I have never been so moved. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making such a beautifuly raw and artful film that I will never forget.
heyhey, i just saw tarnation and fell in love with it. i have a friend who went thru similar situation that your mother endured and it really touched base with all of the frustration and everything
this second part however may or may not be a little silly... but my girlfriend swears that she saw you in "propaganda" magazine at one point? any truth to that at all or is she mistaken?
all the best,
david
Dear Jonathan,
I am Fabio from Italy.
I saw you film "Tarnation" and I was fascinated.
I, with a group of friend, have opened ( three years ago) a small cinema house in Mantova, for presenting film that are not visible in the main distribution.
You can visit our site (www.ilcinemadelcarbone.it)
I am sorry but it is only in Italian, you can watch some pictures clicking on the left “Foto”
I’d like to present Tarnation in one of our exhibition.
Is it possible?
How much does it cost?
Have you an Italian distributor?
We can think to Italian subtitles ( and later I can give you a copy of them)
We have already done something like this: we have presented a film not distributed in Italy
Thanks
Fabio
I have forgotten my mail, if you want to contact us directly. fabio@ilcinemadelcarbone.it
oh my god. your film has touched me where no other movie has. i'm 15 and i've always wanted to make movies. i just hope i can make one as good as tarnation. brilliant.
Dear Jonathon:
This is an extraordinary film that has moved me deeply. You have undergone so much, and yet you have survived with love in your heart. Your talent for telling a story, all the while creating honest sensations and emotions, is prodigious, and I do hope that you continue making films. Meanwhile, my heart goes out to you for all you have endured and continue to experience. As a mother, I wanted to gather you in my arms and tell you everything will be ok, and as a fellow human being, I felt admiration and hope when I saw the resilience of such a young man. Keep on keeping on, my friend, if I may call you that,
Vicky
britqueen01@hotmail.com
Watched your movie last night.
Amazing piece of art.
Thanks.
Hello jonathan, I saw your film 3 times, everytime i see it, i don't feel the same way... i really like your way your style... your story touched me so much !!!!
yuan
mamasaid94@hotmail.fr
I am a 52 year old widower and have just "experienced" Tarnation on the Independent Film Channel...I went into this film without knowing what or who it was about, but after the first few minutes I was completely caught up in this most masterful and personal work. My boy you are to be commended for such a honest, thought provoking movie...you have been able to capture an entire lifetime of yourself, your mother, and your family as things were, not how others imagined them to be. You are an artist to be sure, but more importantly you are a prophet.
Dear Mr. Caouette and Family:
Like so many others here, my partner and I happened to see your brilliant creation just by chance. We sat speechless for an hour after the film just looking at each other. Your film was like no other we have ever seen. Thank you for allowing the world to have the honor of remotely trying to understand what life is like for gay youth to grow up in a small southern town, compounded by the fact of having to deal with a family that has a history of mental illness (speaking from experience). You are a brilliant and wonderful person just by this flim alone. My partner and I thank you and your family for giving this film to the world.
Adrian and Avi
West Hollywood, CA
I saw your movie yesterday here in berlin at a festival about extraordinary mental states, and it overwhelmed me completely. first i wanted to see it at the gayfilmfestival two years ago, but i did not. what i saw yesterday was so radical and of such an intensivity, that i am scared to touch it again or to compare it with anything i know. it´s very powerful. like a fairground transformer who opens his chest and offers the paralized audience a view on his pumping heart, while he hypnotizes them. strange. your bravery will safe a lot of people who yet feel completely lost.
amazing work ! thanks !
I loved your film :)
I hope you are well and finally happy.
For any UK people out there, the DVD is also available from http://www.play.com for a pretty good price. Free shipping too. I'm absolutely buying it.
You can read the following review written in spanish and from Argentina: http://espectadores.wordpress.com/2006/07/14/tarnation/
It´s a wonderful film. Congrats from Argentina!! The best film of the year no doubts.
I'm about two thirds through the DVD and watching it in installments. It's over the top. Is it all true? Egads. Anyway, you're one resilient mofo. Good genes I guess. Are you going to be telling me by the end of the film how you ended up filming yourself so early and forever on? I'd like to know.
Hi! I´m Juliette from BuenosAires. I saw your movie and I love it!! it´s amazing!!
I have nothing to say, i said everything...
I really enjoy your movie...
here´s my e-mail...
july1990ar@yahoo.com.ar
bye...
Hello,Jonathan...
I saw "Tarnation" on Motovun film festival. That is film festival in Croatia. I attend Motovun film festival every year.
I saw lot of movies on Motovun film festival but nothing quite like your movie.
Tarnation is AMAZING film.
Everything from the begining till end...
I'm looking everywhere to find movie and buy it but here is very hard to find movies.
I want to see it again and again.
You swept me of my feet and I know you will again.
I hope next movie you make will be amazing as Tarnation.
I hope also next time you will come to Croatia on Motovun film festival.
I would like meet you.You can come with or without the movie.
I hope you are well. :)
with love,
Vedrana
Until we meet...write me here:
My mail is: simmyorama@gmail.com
P.S. My sister says hello...She saw the movie and she adore it much as I do.
i saw the filme yesterday on dvd, and i just want to say that it's a master-piece.
thank you and keep leting love to be with you
Hi - Watching your doc. right now. Are you ever going to go back to posting on this blog on anything like a regular basis?
it seems like you've stopped using your blog. however i'll write, perhaps you'll read and who knows whether that will matter or not.
yesterday evening i rented your film. a friend of mine had told me that when she saw tarnation she'd left the theatre with a kind of pressure in her chest. she'd enjoyed the film but there was something that had left her an uncomfortable feeling. i can say that i share her feeling. it's so intense. however i couldn't cry to release tension. there was something missing, something i can't quite describe.
but there is one thing that leaves me thinking: tarnation looks like a movie, but it's a documentary. we're so used to fiction that when we find realities of the kind you've had we star questioning whether it's true or not. and please don't take it as an offence. what i mean is that we forget that fiction is usually based on reality. and i learned that with your film. or your life. so, thank you.
Johnathon. Thank you for telling your story. My mother had a similar existance...in and out of mental wards, shock treatments, and lithiam.
As one of her five offspring, life was not always easy. After having my own child, I realized how fragile our minds can become.
I don't know what studies have been done but my theory about her (and ultimately my) mental state was due to problems with:
1. Trauma and continued stress which altered her perceptions greatly.
2. Poor diet, low blood sugar, lack of sleep, and lack of clean air (lose the cigs) further deteriorated her brain.
3. A lack of joy on a daily, weekly, yearly basis made her physically ill. She died of cancer in her early 50s.
I have decided to live life to its fullest and find joy in all things large and small. I vow to no longer be mentally or physically ill; I no longer need to punish myself for events I had no control over.
You, too, do not need to punish yourself any longer.
All of us must find joy.
Hello Jonathan.
I just watched your movie and it is still sinking in as I mull it over. It was very moving to me. I think I will have another look at it tomorrow to sort it out in my mind a little better.
My first thots after the movie ended was of how pissed off I felt while watching. How your Mom could just be sent off that easily by her parents on the advice of some fucked-up thinking doctors and just get electricity zapped through her brains! For two years?? WTF is going on down there in Tx? Did anyone have to answer for this? Have you ever talked to these fckng doctors that have the audacity to just electrify someones mind like they are some kind of test animal???
I could go on and on but it's late here and I have work tomorrow. Your film was very thought provoking and I will rec. it to others. I rented it thru Block Buster on-line rental, FYI.
I had a pretty shitty bringing up too man and it took me many years to kinda get a grip on things. It looks like you are dealing with your demons pretty well by putting this film together, but who is really to say. Right? Good luck to you and your future. Thank you for having the guts to put this out, I'm sure it was/is difficult to bare yourself like this.
I hope your Mother is well and hope you called her today, Mother's Day.
Take it easy.
Mike
M/49y.
i am not sure if you care to know that an other person have just seen your film. the thing is, this get to me like so few things do that is alarming to note that fact. thank you.
maybe i shouldnt say sorry for my bad english
Paris, le 24/05/07
spécial, dérangeant, vrai, émouvant. Ce documentaire ne laisse pas indifférent.
Dear Jonathan,
I have seen Tarnation dvd twice now.Your film is so visual, it enchants me ...then the music, ahh the music accompanies so perfect, so beautifully , the sadness is sublimated.Is it possible to have the soundtrack of your film?
You are a most beautiful lad, with so much strength and light.You are a true artist, you have been able to survive because you create it.
I can only bless you my dearest.
Sincerely yours,
Liliana Mercenario Pomeroy (MEXICO)
lily_auuu@hotmail.com
www.arteven.com
I love this film. Its the best thing I've watched in a long time, and tarnation will remain my favourite film of all time. Its so personal and watching this film really makes you feel like ur inside jonathan's head. Kudos to u jonathan. Ur creativity and strength really shine through on this film. Im a big fan!!!
Thank you for making and publishing this movie, Jonathan! For me, it is a fantastic mind-moving-movie!
It showed me, that we all have our own family biography, that we must grow up with and live with a long time, so that we finally get over it...to find ourselves. That is our tarnation...our chance.
The artful arrangement of the movie makes it absolutly unique. An incredible milestone for documentation movies!
hi, I just discovered your movie yesterday on TV (I know I'm late!)and I was totally sticked to the TV. This is really a moving and sincere work of art, so thank you for sharing all this, and I heard a new movie is coming out in 2008, so I'm looking forward to it.
thanks
Caroline from France
it´s a very interesting movie,has strong scenes for a teenager ,as us, but if it´s very good filming.
The movie tarnation seemed to me to be very good, since the reality of the life shows itself and without censorships this way to be able to estimate her much better and also to see beyond what we know or what our eyes can see.
Hello jonathan
I write to congratulate on your movie that i think is excelent, I love the subject matter that it develops since it is a topic that, though in other movies people mention it, the point of view of the movie about it was great for me. Many congratulations for your excelent work
bye
nadia mollo
Jonathan , you are genius. I watched your movie last night for the first time. I was muched moved.
I'm a recovering addict in Louisville KY and this movie "Tarnation" has inspired me in so many (good) ways I can't describe in just words...
To you Jon, you are much blessed, I wish you & yours well and I look forward to seeing more of your work. God bless
-Pete
Hi Jonnathan ^^
I saw your movie about 2 weeks ago in a English class
Iñm from Chile, so I put my commentary. I like a lot your movie, the effects, the reallity, son I give you a 10 :p
Well, I hope your life now be great ^^!
Well, I´m go now.
Congratulations. C´ya!
I just wanted to let you know that I saw your film on here-tv and found it very poignant. My mother had emotional, and mental issues (altought hers were caused by shock treatments and were actually probably more emotional in basis than your mothers were) as well.
I blog a review of your film on my blog and it will be on my webpage something soon as http://www.vickiecollins/moviereviews.html
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