Werner Herzog’s American horror film ‘without axes and chain saws’, as he puts it himself. The horror element is made up of a vague feeling of fear that slowly comes over the viewer. Herzog’s other American production that was also screened at the festival, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans, floats on the same anonymous fear, the same notion of confusion and decay. In both films, destructive and indifferent nature drives people to the edge. In My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done? an actor in a theatre version of Oedipus threatens to kill his real mother. The actor shuts himself up with two hostages and, while the police surround the house, flashbacks show how this came about. David Lynch was co-producer of Herzog’s bizarre story and that is clearly visible in the tension, mood and sun-drenched Californian setting.
Film details
- Countries of production
- Germany, USA
- Year
- 2009
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2010
- Length
- 91'
- Medium/Format
- HDcam
