Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)

AKA: –
Directed by: Harmony Korine
Starring: Ewen Bremner (Julien), Chloe Sevigny (Pearl), Werner Herzog (Father), Evan Neumann (Chris), Chrissy Kobylak (blind girl), Alvin Law (armless drummer), Joyce Korine (Grandma), Victor Varnado (Rapper)
Country: USA; Effed Up American Films
Language: English (Optional Eng Subs)
Runtime: 01:35:30
Genres: Bizarre-Surreal, Siblings-Family, Disabled person, Misery-Mental Illness, Domestic Abuse

Plot – Spoilers:
Julien Donkey-Boy is shot in a way that reflects the fucked up German-American family it follows, one of whom, Julien, is most likely schizophrenic.

Julien, his pregnant sister and younger brother, live under a frustrated father who hammers out his amounting-to-nothing on his kids, especially the youngest boy who is the only ambitious one determined to be a wrestler. Julien and his sister are close to each other to the point where she sometimes roleplays their dead mother. It’s also suggested that he could be the father of her unborn child, though personally I wondered if she was roleplaying this too, to give him a sense of purpose and relevance in their miserable world. In any case, it hasn’t helped Julien who is deeply religious and lugs around the guilt of the biblical line, Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister. With his haunted eyes, Julien is diseased and fucked up beyond repair and this is evident early on in the film. And so you can only see further gloom for all of them.

The film with its pixelated style might not appeal to some, but has plenty of dark ironic humor that includes an armless Ed Norton as the happiest of the lot.