The Screening Room

Julien, Donkey-Boy (1999)

Date of first viewing: Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Location: Home
Format: DVD

Disturbing, raw, difficult. Normally, I would write off this kind of movie as pretentious (or "artsy fartsy," as Julien's father would call it.) Certainly exploitive - of people with disabilities. But then, what films don't exploit people, and why shouldn't disabled people get their few moments of fame? Anyway, this morning I can't get the images out of my head. There is something really compelling about the absolute raw honesty of this movie. And speaking of Julien's father, I found him to be even MORE disturbing than the Dennis Hopper character in Blue Velvet. Because of the naturalness of Werner Herzog's performance, I didn't feel like I was watching a performance at all, but a deranged guy being secretly filmed in his bedroom. Creepy.

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