This film deserves—and will surely get—longer, more meticulous, and more analytically robust treatment than this paltry 400-word review can afford. An unlikely and mesmerizing collaboration between Werner Herzog and David Lynch, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done delivers an entire silo of fodder for discussion. Consider this the précis of an imaginary 3,000-word essay.

It’s difficult to imagine Herzog and Lynch making a film together—they’re both so strong, so distinct in their styles and interests, so excellent in entirely different ways. Lynch likes ghost stories and fantasies, Herzog likes facts and deeds; Lynch favors the ambient eeriness of West Coast suburbs and small towns, Herzog favors the thundering drama of inner cities and Peruvian rivers. Herzog makes dramas. Lynch makes dreams.

But both directors love a good mental breakdown, a story about a brain peeling off from the surface of the real world and growing in on itself. They have fused that mutual motif into a strong, unified collaboration about a wall-eyed young man (Michael Shannon) who goes crazy during a river-rafting trip to Peru, returns to San Diego, stars in a production of The Oresteia, and murders his mother.

Of course, this being Lynch and Herzog, the film isn’t about what it’s about. My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done feels like a (smooth, never lurching) conversation between the two directors. Lynch brings the flamingos, unsettling cello scores, haunted homes of suburban San Diego, men wearing oxygen masks, the obligatory little person, and some familiar faces (Brad Dourif from Blue Velvet; Grace Zabriskie, who played a crazy mother in Twin Peaks, here playing the crazy mother of the crazy son).

Herzog brings a cop siege, a famous actor playing a protagonist detective (last time it was Nicolas Cage, this time it’s Willem Dafoe), a little documentary-style camerawork, long shots of characters’ faces and a Mexico border crossing, a clear plot that resolves itself (no guarantee in a Lynch film), and some familiar locations (the Urubamba River, where Herzog also shot
Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre: The Wrath of God).

The result is a resonant, moving film of pleasant contrasts and contradictions that feels as claustrophobic as a madman’s skull and as wide as the sky above a mountaintop. Just go see it. recommended

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....

10 replies on “<i>My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done</i>: You Got Lynch in My Herzog”

  1. This is a perfect review for the film. It is a very difficult movie to describe to anyone but you did a good job. Saw it originally at the Telluride film festival and I will go see it again.

  4. You’re misunderstanding what Lynch did in this film. He was the producer, and had no involvement in the film itself. It’s a Herzog film through-and-through, not a Lynch film. If you see Lynch qualities, then you’re seeing Herzog emulating or giving homage to Lynch.

  6. Wow, this movie was boring. And I was excited to see it, being a fan of David Lynch, Grace Zabriskie, Chloe Sevigny. But it was just too inconsequential. It wasn’t suspenseful, mysterious, dramatic. It just felt forced-weird, pretentious and self-conscious. I didn’t believe for a second that the main character would have ever landed a role in a play, or ended up engaged to a seemingly normal woman. It was like a low-budget David Lynch knock-off. But Grace Zabriskie was as awesome as usual. No other reason to recommend this.

  8. #4 is correct; Herzog has stated that Lynch is only listed as the Producer because of his involvement with the production company, that he had nothing to do with the film otherwise. Which makes this review ill-informed and fairly worthless, as it primarily focuses on a collaboration that did not happen and Lynch’s input, which does not exist….. not sure why the press is doing this; perhaps the production company is encouraging the lie in order to promote the movie?

  9. To clarify: When I said the film was like a conversation between Herzog and Lynch, I meant it. It was *like* a conversation between the two, with elements and motifs they both frequently deploy. That remains true (even if it’s solely due to Herzog’s tributes to and emulations of Lynch). I never claimed they co-directed.

  10. I have long been a Lynch fan and have seen every movie with his name on it. I see a lot of Lynch in this movie. Just watched it last night, without realizing the Lynch connection and immediately rewound to see if my hunch was right.
    A producer can have a great effect on a film if he/she is avant garde and creative. The structure was surely Herzog, but the effects were Lynch, all the way.

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