The reviews, polarized as some of them are all honest. Jonathan Caouette lays himself out in front of the camera in scenes that are uncomfortable by truthful as well as clearly self-indulgent and narcissistic. Scenes with family members tread from necessarily confrontational and honest to (as it progresses) increasingly exploitive. At least for me, there is no question that it was frequently arresting. It's up to the viewer to decide if the mixture of honesty and exhibitionism, and the uncomfortable scenes become too much. Myself, I was unnerved at the length at a scene of his mother talking to a doll that he held for whole minutes past any point.
Two things tipped it, one scene you can see and one bit of fact. First, towards the end he sits in front of a mirror (he's close now to the age of where he wrapped up making the movie) and recites a poor soliloquy that's clearly not improvised or natural. In fact, in it he refers to what he's doing as scene ... something that quickly casts doubt on the credibility of a wide stretch of the movie, though not all of it. The second thing comes from the fact my viewing at the theater was followed up with a Q&A with one of the producers. He revealed that he father refused to allow himself to be seen unless shown favorably. That he asked if his soon had aids. Basically, that he acted completely counter to the depiction shown in the movie. If Caouette had shown it all, and dealt with the consequences that'd be one thing. If he didn't, and dealt with gap that'd be something else. Instead, he chose to mislead everyone who happens to see this movie, robbing it of honestly, which was the one thing gives it any power.
Whatever impulses I may have had to ignore or overlook the films flaws went away with that.
Two things tipped it, one scene you can see and one bit of fact. First, towards the end he sits in front of a mirror (he's close now to the age of where he wrapped up making the movie) and recites a poor soliloquy that's clearly not improvised or natural. In fact, in it he refers to what he's doing as scene ... something that quickly casts doubt on the credibility of a wide stretch of the movie, though not all of it. The second thing comes from the fact my viewing at the theater was followed up with a Q&A with one of the producers. He revealed that he father refused to allow himself to be seen unless shown favorably. That he asked if his soon had aids. Basically, that he acted completely counter to the depiction shown in the movie. If Caouette had shown it all, and dealt with the consequences that'd be one thing. If he didn't, and dealt with gap that'd be something else. Instead, he chose to mislead everyone who happens to see this movie, robbing it of honestly, which was the one thing gives it any power.
Whatever impulses I may have had to ignore or overlook the films flaws went away with that.
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