Task: Sentiment Analysis
Input (English): Very overrated, narcissitic, and self indulgent.... . I was immensely disappointed by this film. The "avant-garde" style of the film has been done better by other filmmakers (specifically Derek Jarman, Kenneth Anger, and Harmony Korine), and the film is mostly about Jonathan, not about his mother. The critics made this film sound like it was an attempt by Jonathan to bring him closer to his mother, to try and understand her by making a film about her, and to bring "closure" to their relationship. Well, the film isn't really about Jonathan's mother, it's strictly about him. We hear and see tons of information (with annoying title cards) about Jonathan's life, career, and loves. It feels like an episode of "this is Jonathan's life", as if Jonathan is this absolutely fascinating, brilliant individual that we must all pay attention to. He may become a great artist someday, but he isn't there yet. Jonathan uses his mother merely as an excuse to make a very self-indulgent, narcissitic film about himself. He doesn't really seem interested in her, other than as an excuse to show how much HE'S suffered, not really about her suffering. While Jonathan had a horrendous childhood, I felt very little sympathy towards him, as he is constantly mugging for the camera in a "feel sorry for me, I'm gay and my mother is insane" way. The man has been taping himself since he was in grammar school, so he's just a tad in love with himself, methinks. Harmony Korine's julien donkey-boy is a film that deals with a schizophernic, and it is much more interesting and artistic than this film (Korine's uncle is a schizophernic). Derek Jarman shot his films in multiple formats similar to this film, like 35mm, 16mm, video, and super8, and weaved the images into an artistic and fascinating tapestry. Kenneth Anger, as well as Jarman, infused a gay sensibility into their films, which Jonathan doesn't do very well. Overall, disappointing, considering critics said it was absolutely brilliant....
Output (English): NEG