My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done

2009
Directed By Werner Herzog


SYNOPSIS

A mentally unstable man (Michael Shannon) murders his mother. Through a series of flashbacks we find out the strange circumstances that drive him to kill.

MY THOUGHTS

Pretentious bullshit.

My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done was produced by David Lynch and the film features many of the hallmarks of his directoral career (extreme oddball characters, use of music, etc.) I couldn't help but to think of Lynch's latest film as director, Inland Empire. Both films are overly ridiculous and obtuse. They are very pale copies of David Lynch's earlier films, or quality films for that matter. Film can be overly artsy and still be good, if they have something to say. My Son and Inland Empire do not.

Director Werner Herzog is a unique talent and it is painful to see him try and ape another's style and utterly fail to make a decent film.

In the lead, Michael Shannon is completely awful. He creates a completely unsympathetic character who never once seems to be connected to reality or the people around him. He plays the role so over the top (or completely flat) that I found myself laughing unintentionally at his performance, drawing me out of the film.

The film features some excellent character actors to fill out the main cast but all are wasted. William Dafoe, Chloe Sevigny, Brad Dourif, and Udo Kier are given little to do but react. It's hard to empathize with them either since we learn basically nothing about them and they do nothing. I'm guessing the actors all signed up for the film just to work with Herzog.

As a fan of both Herzog and Lynch, I found the film to be nearly unwatchable.