Tarnation (2003)

This documentary -- and that is hardly the right word -- was made for about $200 and comes with a lot of baggage attached.  At times one feels as if one is watching an art installation rather than a movie, as writer-director Jonathan Caouette presents a surreal kaleidoscope of images, all put together on his computer.  But once one tears oneself away from the amazing pictures, one realises that one is watching an autobiography and a sad one at that, of a life affected by the thoughtless treatment doled out to Caouette's mother who was in and out of institutions for most of her life, given unnecesary shock treatment, and ultimately brain-damaged.  Her creative son tries to find an answer to his own life by assembling the images he has collected since childhood, hoping that his future might be a little more promising than hers, but fearing the worse.  On one level, the film is a love-letter to his Mum.  It's a very personal project, but the finished film probably weighs in at more than the initial costs if one considers the clearances that must have been necessary for the many film clips and the amazing sound track.