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Tarnation is one of the most emotionally compelling, as well as disturbing, autobiographical movies of the decade - a confessional memoir of Jonathan Caouette's personal and intimate account of his extremely traumatic childhood. There cannot be a better testimony to where and how things have gone so appallingly wrong with respect to the treatment of mental health, even up to the present day.
The film begins with him experiencing an anxiety attack after his mother, Renee, has taken a lithium overdose and is in intensive care. This opening infuses what follows with a sense of fatality and amorphous dread. On his way to visiting her he travels back in time, taking us through the alleyways of his life using shattered pictures, voices, music, flashbacks and images from his childhood camera that is projected to us in a non-linear, dreamy narrative.
In black and white block capitals, Jonathan introduces us to what at first appears a romanticized portrait of his family history but yet is filled with irony.
'ONCE UPON A TIME, IN A SMALL TOWN IN TEXAS, IN THE EARLY 1950s, A VERY GOOD MAN MET A VERY GOOD WOMAN. THE MAN ADOLPH AND THE WOMAN ROSEMARY HAD A BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER RENEE. THEIR LIVES WERE BRIGHT, HAPPY AND PROMISING. ADOLPH HAD A PROSPEROUS BUSINESS, A SMALL GROCERY STORE. WHEN RENEE WAS 11 YEARS OLD SHE WAS SCOUTED BY A FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER FROM NEW YORK CITY WHO MADE RENEE A VERY FAMOUS REGIONAL CHILD MODEL.
AROUND THE TIME RENEE WAS 12 YEARS OLD, EVERYTHING IN HER LIFE BECAME SAD. RENEE WAS PLAYING ON THE ROOF OF HER HOUSE. RENEE FELL. SHE BECAME PARALYSED FOR 6 MONTHS. ROSEMARY AND ADOLPH BEGAN TO THINK THAT PARALYSIS WAS ALL IN HER HEAD. A NEIGHBOUR FRIEND OF THE FAMILY ADVISED THEM TO GIVE RENEE SHOCK TREATMENT TWICE A WEEK FOR 2 YEARS.
ALL DURING HER TREATMENT RENEE REMAINED A BEAUTY. AFTER RENEE's RECOVERY FROM HER TREATMENT SHE WOULD WALK OUTSIDE AND FEEL AS THOUGH THE SUN WOULD MAKE HER EVAPORATE. IN 1972 RENEE MET A SALESMAN, STEVE, FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE. THEY FELL I