Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) on Netflix
Untreated schizophrenia shapes Julien's days. He lives with his pregnant sister Pearl, his brother Chris and their abusive German father, and talks on the phone with their mother, dead for years.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb6.7/108,321 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes30%
Trailer
Plot summary
Julien is a young man with untreated schizophrenia who lives in New York City with his family. His father, a domineering German, drinks, recounts historical stories and turns violent with Julien's brother Chris, who practices wrestling moves on trash cans. Pearl, Julien's pregnant sister, hunts for baby clothes while their grandmother keeps to herself and her dog. Julien works at a school for the blind and spends his spare time at confession, muttering to himself in the street and imagining conversations with Adolf Hitler. Grieving his mother, who died years earlier, he takes phone calls in which Pearl pretends to be her. A sermon at a Baptist church strikes him deeply.
Cast
- Joyce Korineas Grandma
- Brian Fiskas Pond Boy
- Miriram Martinezas Teenage Girl
- Edgar Erikksonas Bearded Man
- James Moixas Dancing Man
- Oliver A. Buenoas Bowler
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Julien Donkey-Boy was the sixth film to be made under the self-imposed rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto, and the first non-European film made under the Dogme 95 "vow of chastity".
- Korine broke a few of the Dogme 95 rules in making the film. Its tenets stipulate that all the camerawork must be handheld, but this film uses hidden cameras that are technically not handheld.
- Shot in New York on MiniDV tape with a Canon XL-1, the film was transferred to 16mm before being blown up to 35mm for the master print. Korine used this method to give the film a low-definition, grainy aesthetic.
