Avant-Doc by MacDonald Scott;

Author:MacDonald, Scott;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA - OSO
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 31 Jonathan Caouette and Renee Leblanc in Caouette’s Walk Away Renee (2013).

Source: Courtesy Jonathan Caouette.

Caouette: Yes! I think that some people don’t understand how challenging it is to attain the kind of footage you see in Tarnation and Walk Away Renee. It’s hard to be dealing with something emotionally while you’re simultaneously filming and/or being filmed—and all the while trying to deflect the idea that you’re part of some cheesy reality TV program. The most frustrating thing is that I’m trying feverishly to communicate a world, a feeling, but am not quite able to do it in Walk Away Renee the way I was able to do with Tarnation. Even in its umteenth version, the new film feels a little half-baked.

I hope at some point in the future I’ll be able, again, to fully endorse something I do.

MacDonald: You know, Jonathan, whatever you think about your recent films, I think the thing you can say about yourself—and hardly anybody can honestly say this—is that through it all, you did the right things as a son, as a grandson, and as a father. Tarnation and especially Walk Away Renee model courage, persistence, and deep love for family and friends.

Caouette: I’ve tried. You know, nobody in their right mind would ever make films like mine to get into the film industry or become famous. Those certainly weren’t my reasons for making the films. I am very grateful that, as a result of making the films I’ve been able to make, I have a mild filmmaking career, but I don’t long to be in the limelight. I’m uncomfortable with the whole process of marketing myself and my work. Even with all the excitement in 2004‒2005 after Tarnation came out, I was relieved when it ended. At the same time, I can’t wait to begin a new film!

As is obvious in the films, I don’t come from money; I’m no trust fund kid. I don’t have anything to sustain me beyond what I can come up with, and I’ve been helping to provide for other people most of my life. That’s not a complaint or a cry for help; it’s just the reality. My life circumstances and my hard-wiring have sent me in a particular direction, and I have to engage my circumstances the best that I can. Thank God for cinema because I swear I don’t know where I would be had I not had a compulsive love for good movies.

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