you're trying to scheme me

I saw the trailer for Tarnation a while back when I was at the MFA watching some other film. BTW, they show awesome films there so make sure you check out the schedule on a regular basis. Anyhoo, Tarnation is out on dvd now and the good ex rented it, previewed it and showed it to me and S. last night. For those who haven't seen the trailer, Tarnation is the life story of a man whose mother was (mis)treated with electric shock and their incredibly messed up subsequent lives together. Jonathan Caouette started filming himself and his friends and family when he was a kid so there's a lot of older footage put together with current film. The guy who made the film grew up in H-town so there are shots of town and some folks that the good ex knew back in the day. It's a fairly heart wrenching depiction of the mentally ill parent and child dynamic, much like the book Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn.

The film itself is beautifully edited, in fact the editing creates a lot of the feeling and emotion of the film, as does the soundtrack. It's definitely another title to add to the wrist-slitter hall of fame, so when you're in the mood, I highly recommend it.