I had always been told that director Guy Maddin did nothing conventionally, and so I approached The Saddest Music in the World with anticipation and hesitation. I am a great fan of Isabella Rossellini and Maria de Medeiros, both of whom do well in this picture. Maddin delivers a picture that is quite beautiful visually; all in black and white, and edited in such a way as to recall something resurrected from the 1930s. There are a few occasions when colour is allowed in, and those moments dazzle. One of the most striking images I have seen all year is Isabella Rossellini posing in Technicolour standing on glass legs filled with beer. It's something that has to be seen to be believed. However, once you get past the visuals, the film is rather empty and lacks heart. I do recommend it, though, because everyone should see something new and different (and for Isabella and Maria).
98 Reviews
Terrific Satire-Comedy
FlickeringLight16 July 2004
I saw Guy Maddin's film last weekend, not really knowing much about it other than it's premise, which was too absurd to pass up. A double amputee parapalegic beer baroness with glass legs filled with her own beer holding a contest during Prohibition to find the saddest music in the world? Where do people come up with this stuff?
The film is an interesting conglomeration of styles from films before and around the era in which it is set. The 8 mm footage with the stereopticon lens is reminiscent of the earliest films, and the distorted sets created in a studio are reminiscent of the German expressionist films. This is combined with a 30's musical and conversational style, including bits of "Technicolor" thrown in for good measure. I would have to see the film again, but I would like to go back and see it again to determine the link between the scenes which are suddenly shot in color as compared to the grainy black and white images that grace the rest of the film.
Despite the quizzical looks from the three fellow moviegoers who occupied the theatre, I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times at the film's caustic humor. The matches between the music from each country are like something out of a gangland film, with each side advancing toward each other menacingly during their performance. Some of the countries who perform in the competition reflect Maddin's satirical side, including a winning performance from Serbia (of all places) and an entry from the "country" of Africa (as if we in North America don't know any of the individual nations on the continent).
The entwining of satire and comedy continues in the musical performances and the competition's radio commentators. Maybe it's just me, but the funeral dirges from some countries (most notably "Africa" and Scotland) are not really "sad" at all, as they are a bit loud and a bit too upbeat. The greatest offender is the American entry, who turns the competition into a showcase for his Broadway ambitions, eschewing the premise of the competition with the blessing of Lady Port-Huntley, who incidentally is his former-current lover. The idiotic commentators obnoxiously chatter over a loudspeaker even as the musicians are performing, delivering such priceless wisdom as "Siam is known for its dignity, twins, and cats."
The themes of the film revolve around the separation between the rich and the poor (one character enjoys a psychic connection with her tapeworm), American excess, Canadian self-loathing, humanity's relentless desire for the trivial and superficial over the meaningful and spiritual, the global domination of American pop culture, how the mass media controls the world, etc. However, none of these are really fleshed out in the film, but rather touched on briefly then tossed away in favor of the next idea.
Though the film is more style over substance, it is still thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who loves the cinema in all its forms.
The film is an interesting conglomeration of styles from films before and around the era in which it is set. The 8 mm footage with the stereopticon lens is reminiscent of the earliest films, and the distorted sets created in a studio are reminiscent of the German expressionist films. This is combined with a 30's musical and conversational style, including bits of "Technicolor" thrown in for good measure. I would have to see the film again, but I would like to go back and see it again to determine the link between the scenes which are suddenly shot in color as compared to the grainy black and white images that grace the rest of the film.
Despite the quizzical looks from the three fellow moviegoers who occupied the theatre, I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times at the film's caustic humor. The matches between the music from each country are like something out of a gangland film, with each side advancing toward each other menacingly during their performance. Some of the countries who perform in the competition reflect Maddin's satirical side, including a winning performance from Serbia (of all places) and an entry from the "country" of Africa (as if we in North America don't know any of the individual nations on the continent).
The entwining of satire and comedy continues in the musical performances and the competition's radio commentators. Maybe it's just me, but the funeral dirges from some countries (most notably "Africa" and Scotland) are not really "sad" at all, as they are a bit loud and a bit too upbeat. The greatest offender is the American entry, who turns the competition into a showcase for his Broadway ambitions, eschewing the premise of the competition with the blessing of Lady Port-Huntley, who incidentally is his former-current lover. The idiotic commentators obnoxiously chatter over a loudspeaker even as the musicians are performing, delivering such priceless wisdom as "Siam is known for its dignity, twins, and cats."
The themes of the film revolve around the separation between the rich and the poor (one character enjoys a psychic connection with her tapeworm), American excess, Canadian self-loathing, humanity's relentless desire for the trivial and superficial over the meaningful and spiritual, the global domination of American pop culture, how the mass media controls the world, etc. However, none of these are really fleshed out in the film, but rather touched on briefly then tossed away in favor of the next idea.
Though the film is more style over substance, it is still thoroughly enjoyable for anyone who loves the cinema in all its forms.
one of a kind: a romantic comedy about the darkest and most tragic things known to man + beer and music
Quinoa198419 December 2008
Guy Maddin is a master in at least one respect: he knows how to use 8mm film. Very few filmmakers attempt to use it at the length he does, or to such seemingly limitless invention, and all the while he has in mind an aesthetic somewhere in the middle of an expressionist silent film director and someone looking to break a little ground with a music video. In fact two of his films specifically, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary and Brand Upon the Brain, work better just as they appear to be: stories told in pantomime, without dialog, but also with all of the heavy emotions that come with. The Saddest Music in the World is a sound film, and must be in order to include such music and some occasionally really funny dialog. But its aesthetic is so bizarre and, indeed, eclectic to tastes of modern and pre-WW2 cinema that it has to be seen and heard to be believed.
The premise is that a "Lady" in Winnepeg (Rossellini) is hosting a contest for everyone around the world to come to Winnipeg to sing the saddest songs known anywhere, and the winner will receive 25 grand (in "Depression-Era" money). But there are complications- a devilish entrepreneur (Mark McKinney in a sly and convincing dramatic performance) comes into town to bring back old memories- the legs that Rossellini no longer has due to a horrible accident stacked upon a huge blunder by McKinney's father- and there's other troubles in romantic entanglements (i.e. McKinney's brother sees that Narcissa, played by Medeiros, is with him now and may have a talking tapeworm). There's this and more, plus the brothers' father in his attempt to resolve the situation with glass legs full of, yes, beer, plus the various competitions between countries with their own styles and vibrations and sorrowful melodies (there's even "Africa" at one point).
But a lot of this is, in fact, really crazy. So crazy that it takes a guy as smart and dedicated to his own warped craft like Maddin to make it make any kind of sense. But it does make sense, beautiful sense at times, and it's helped a lot out by the striking acting and the sense of morbid comedy that pops up from time to time (even just the announcers, who have that depression-era sensibility to them are funny). And watching the quixotic montage, the dazzling camera angles that sometimes go by in blinks or feverish moments in the midst of despair, make it all the more worthwhile. If I might not recommend it as overwhelmingly as Brand Upon the Brain it's only for a lesser connection emotionally with the material, of being pulled in inexorably to its conclusion. Nevertheless no one who wants to miss a challenge, take on something just this side of insanity and poetry, owes it to watch this- experience the songs, the romance. 8.5/10
The premise is that a "Lady" in Winnepeg (Rossellini) is hosting a contest for everyone around the world to come to Winnipeg to sing the saddest songs known anywhere, and the winner will receive 25 grand (in "Depression-Era" money). But there are complications- a devilish entrepreneur (Mark McKinney in a sly and convincing dramatic performance) comes into town to bring back old memories- the legs that Rossellini no longer has due to a horrible accident stacked upon a huge blunder by McKinney's father- and there's other troubles in romantic entanglements (i.e. McKinney's brother sees that Narcissa, played by Medeiros, is with him now and may have a talking tapeworm). There's this and more, plus the brothers' father in his attempt to resolve the situation with glass legs full of, yes, beer, plus the various competitions between countries with their own styles and vibrations and sorrowful melodies (there's even "Africa" at one point).
But a lot of this is, in fact, really crazy. So crazy that it takes a guy as smart and dedicated to his own warped craft like Maddin to make it make any kind of sense. But it does make sense, beautiful sense at times, and it's helped a lot out by the striking acting and the sense of morbid comedy that pops up from time to time (even just the announcers, who have that depression-era sensibility to them are funny). And watching the quixotic montage, the dazzling camera angles that sometimes go by in blinks or feverish moments in the midst of despair, make it all the more worthwhile. If I might not recommend it as overwhelmingly as Brand Upon the Brain it's only for a lesser connection emotionally with the material, of being pulled in inexorably to its conclusion. Nevertheless no one who wants to miss a challenge, take on something just this side of insanity and poetry, owes it to watch this- experience the songs, the romance. 8.5/10
10/10
desperateliving2 August 2004
What could only be titled as Cinema of the Ridiculous, Maddin's latest masterpiece, about a no-legged beer queen who hosts a Winnipeg-set competition to see which nation has the saddest music in the world, is filled to the gills with wacky ideas, but the reason it's a great film is because of the heartfelt feeling behind it. Maddin's genuine love for the silent cinema that he emulates (and attachment to the pathetic characters he creates) makes it possible for him to sustain a comic tone without it ever becoming mocking.
Maddin manages to balance the grotesque comic caricature of Mark McKinney as the shady mustached businessman who tries to win the competition, and Maria de Medeiros, who gets life advice from her tapeworm, with the pathetic goth character that's McKinney's brother, who's had to deal with the loss of a son, and the glamorous Isabella Rossellini, who's had to deal with the loss of her legs. (I wonder if the fact that Rossellini lost her legs in a car accident caused by her performing fellatio is a nod to the Myth of Murnau.) There's almost a subliminal melodrama taking place with the theme of loss and hilarious depression (during The Depression). It's an exciting movie visually, but unlike the best of the silents that Maddin loves, it's not poetic in that slow, beautiful way -- it's too fast-paced, kinetic, and rough to achieve any sort of traditional beauty -- but it is a feast. The few scenes of gaudy color -- reds, blues, and odd flesh tones -- are as grainy as the black and white. Maddin is truly one of the most imaginative of directors and he has a firm grasp of the medium. In fact, there is at least one scene of slow, beautiful poetry -- a purely silent moment, near the end, that comes alongside the bloody murder of Rossellini's screams. 10/10
Maddin manages to balance the grotesque comic caricature of Mark McKinney as the shady mustached businessman who tries to win the competition, and Maria de Medeiros, who gets life advice from her tapeworm, with the pathetic goth character that's McKinney's brother, who's had to deal with the loss of a son, and the glamorous Isabella Rossellini, who's had to deal with the loss of her legs. (I wonder if the fact that Rossellini lost her legs in a car accident caused by her performing fellatio is a nod to the Myth of Murnau.) There's almost a subliminal melodrama taking place with the theme of loss and hilarious depression (during The Depression). It's an exciting movie visually, but unlike the best of the silents that Maddin loves, it's not poetic in that slow, beautiful way -- it's too fast-paced, kinetic, and rough to achieve any sort of traditional beauty -- but it is a feast. The few scenes of gaudy color -- reds, blues, and odd flesh tones -- are as grainy as the black and white. Maddin is truly one of the most imaginative of directors and he has a firm grasp of the medium. In fact, there is at least one scene of slow, beautiful poetry -- a purely silent moment, near the end, that comes alongside the bloody murder of Rossellini's screams. 10/10
`The still, sad music of humanity.'
JohnDeSando17 August 2004
And I thought `Dogville' was stylized. Canadian writer/director Guy Maddin ("Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary,' "Archangel') has created a film like no other this year except possibly `Triplet's of Belleville.' `The Saddest Music in the World' is a `musical' set in Winnipeg in 1933, where Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini) is holding a contest to award $25,000 to the saddest music performer. In `Depression Era dollars,' no less.
Winnipeg has been declared by the London Times `the world capital of sorrow' for the fourth year in a row. What happens in the film can be categorized as surrealism of the sort that marries the Melies brothers in their `Trip-to-the-Moon' wackiest to `The Twilight Zone' in Rod Serling's most hilarious (and that's pretty unusual) moments. Shot in distressed mode with 8 mm blown up to be grainy and silent movieish, `Saddest' has blue-grays and silvers and occasional bursts of washed-out color that give it an otherworldly cast meant to satirize the old movies and create a new look built on nostalgia and freedom from convention that some call expressionism.
Some of the bizarre acts vying for the prize are Fyodor (David Fox), a veteran of World War I representing Canada, who plays a deathlike version of ''The Red Maple Leaves'' on an upright piano he has turned over, and Indian singers in Eskimo costumes, who dance to ''California Here I Come'' with sitars and banjos commemorating a 19th-century kayaking accident. All the time an iris lens blurs the edges of the film to recreate the ancient look of film found in a vault after 50 years.
That Lady Port-Huntly needs artificial legs is not as bizarre as the back story of how she came to need them, and that the new glass legs have local beer coursing through them is just another creative and absurdist touch. With a resemblance to the robot in `Metropolis,' she is an amalgam of strange and prophetic moments in film and culture. I know I'm not making much sense here-Trust me that this film is bizarre enough to satisfy the geekiest cultist in our audience. For the rest of us, just trying to appreciate all the signposts Maddin constructs to further his absurd and funny vision is exhausting. Wordsworth's thoughts apply because we at least hear `the still, sad music of humanity.'
Winnipeg has been declared by the London Times `the world capital of sorrow' for the fourth year in a row. What happens in the film can be categorized as surrealism of the sort that marries the Melies brothers in their `Trip-to-the-Moon' wackiest to `The Twilight Zone' in Rod Serling's most hilarious (and that's pretty unusual) moments. Shot in distressed mode with 8 mm blown up to be grainy and silent movieish, `Saddest' has blue-grays and silvers and occasional bursts of washed-out color that give it an otherworldly cast meant to satirize the old movies and create a new look built on nostalgia and freedom from convention that some call expressionism.
Some of the bizarre acts vying for the prize are Fyodor (David Fox), a veteran of World War I representing Canada, who plays a deathlike version of ''The Red Maple Leaves'' on an upright piano he has turned over, and Indian singers in Eskimo costumes, who dance to ''California Here I Come'' with sitars and banjos commemorating a 19th-century kayaking accident. All the time an iris lens blurs the edges of the film to recreate the ancient look of film found in a vault after 50 years.
That Lady Port-Huntly needs artificial legs is not as bizarre as the back story of how she came to need them, and that the new glass legs have local beer coursing through them is just another creative and absurdist touch. With a resemblance to the robot in `Metropolis,' she is an amalgam of strange and prophetic moments in film and culture. I know I'm not making much sense here-Trust me that this film is bizarre enough to satisfy the geekiest cultist in our audience. For the rest of us, just trying to appreciate all the signposts Maddin constructs to further his absurd and funny vision is exhausting. Wordsworth's thoughts apply because we at least hear `the still, sad music of humanity.'
Odd Tribute
rave_rd26 March 2005
The Saddest Music In The World is a very odd contribution to the musical tragi-comedy. In the standard Guy Maddin style (go Winnipeg go :) the black-and-white imagery is very visually interesting, particularly if you are familiar with the old black and white films. While it may not have many laughs throughout, it does offer a few lighter moments just due to their absurdity. It is also able to offer a very interesting look at Central Canada during the Depression; the sets are slightly abstract with an almost Burton-esque feel to them. Performances were good all around, McKinney being a personal highlight (being familiar with him from his days with Kids In The Hall), but there are many strong performances throughout.
And what's a Canadian film without hockey?
And what's a Canadian film without hockey?
funny, original, intriguing.
jason_dcruz30 December 2004
Don't be scared away by people who warn that this movie is too difficult or bizarre. This film will appeal to more than just the usual cabal of obscurantists and nerdy cultists. The plot is quite straightforward: a depression-era beer baroness commissions a contest whose aim it is to find the saddest music in the world. As a result, scores of zany musicians from around the world descend on frost-bitten Winnipeg to win a $25000 prize. Hilarity ensues.
That's not to say the movie doesn't have its fair share of the absurd, the bizarre, and the dark (it *is* a Canadian film, after all). Lines are delivered with strange inflections, characters' motivations are screwy, filmic styles are mixed. None of these, however, comes off as pretentious or forced.
The film explores the interesting paradox that despite the reality and ubiquity of real sadness, authentic expressions of sadness are difficult and rare.
That's not to say the movie doesn't have its fair share of the absurd, the bizarre, and the dark (it *is* a Canadian film, after all). Lines are delivered with strange inflections, characters' motivations are screwy, filmic styles are mixed. None of these, however, comes off as pretentious or forced.
The film explores the interesting paradox that despite the reality and ubiquity of real sadness, authentic expressions of sadness are difficult and rare.
They shoot singers, don't they?
lee_eisenberg18 June 2006
Much like "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", this movie shows Depression-era people trying to make something of themselves by participating in a contest, even if they have to degrade themselves somewhat. In this case, beer baroness Lady Helen Port-Huntley (Isabella Rossellini) wants to find out who can play the saddest music possible - offering a $25,000 prize - so people from all over the world come to take part.
Sound like a strange idea? I guess that it is, but they do a good job with it. The surreal nature of everything here is accentuated by the camera-work (hand-held and often blurred). "The Saddest Music in the World" is part indictment of capitalism, part look into peoples' desperate lives, but all very perceptive. Another good point for Canadian cinema, and for Isabella Rossellini.
Sound like a strange idea? I guess that it is, but they do a good job with it. The surreal nature of everything here is accentuated by the camera-work (hand-held and often blurred). "The Saddest Music in the World" is part indictment of capitalism, part look into peoples' desperate lives, but all very perceptive. Another good point for Canadian cinema, and for Isabella Rossellini.
So funny I immediately bought another ticket
paulklenk1 May 2004
The credits rolled last night at 11:50 PM at the Sunshine on Houston Street in NYC.
Outside the theatre, I glanced up at the box office board: There was another viewing at 11:55 p.m. I impulsively bought another ticket and saw it again.
This is one of the funniest, most original and absurd movies I have ever seen. I feel like I can't believe I've actually seen it -- waking up dizzy at 2 PM today on a Saturday and pondering this movie.
All I remember is the wonderful music, the great one-liners, and those fanciful legs. Oh, for legs such as those!
Everyone must be forced to sit through this film as punishment for watching any television, ever.
Isabella Rossilini should be so proud of forging through the offers of banal roles and accepting roles such as this. It is not a surprise that the same actresss who allowed David Lynch to strip and bruise her in Blue Velvet would embrace such a role as Port-Huntley. If you're sad, and like beer, she's your woman!
The audience last night was howling with laughter and delight at the absurd and brilliant lines in this movie. There was so much to like about this spectacular musical.
But most of all, there were those intoxicating legs.
Outside the theatre, I glanced up at the box office board: There was another viewing at 11:55 p.m. I impulsively bought another ticket and saw it again.
This is one of the funniest, most original and absurd movies I have ever seen. I feel like I can't believe I've actually seen it -- waking up dizzy at 2 PM today on a Saturday and pondering this movie.
All I remember is the wonderful music, the great one-liners, and those fanciful legs. Oh, for legs such as those!
Everyone must be forced to sit through this film as punishment for watching any television, ever.
Isabella Rossilini should be so proud of forging through the offers of banal roles and accepting roles such as this. It is not a surprise that the same actresss who allowed David Lynch to strip and bruise her in Blue Velvet would embrace such a role as Port-Huntley. If you're sad, and like beer, she's your woman!
The audience last night was howling with laughter and delight at the absurd and brilliant lines in this movie. There was so much to like about this spectacular musical.
But most of all, there were those intoxicating legs.
"If you are sad and like beer..."
ackstasis23 April 2011
This was my first film from Guy Maddin, a Canadian director well-known for doing his own thing. Most of his films, I hear, recreate the look and feel of 1920s silent cinema and early talkies – 'The Saddest Music in the World (2003)' is no exception. Not only is the film set in Depression-era Winnipeg, but it actually looks as though it was shot around that time. Maddin shoots his film on washed-out and grainy Super 8 film blown up to 35mm, uses irises and other outdated storytelling techniques, badly-synchronised audio, and lots of Soviet-style montage. Several scenes are shot in colour – and they jar strikingly, like the dream sequence in 'Shock Corridor (1963)' – to imitate the aesthetic of early two-strip Technicolor. Even the use of Isabella Rossellini is a stroke of anachronistic genius: at times you're fooled into thinking that Ingrid Bergman is on screen.
The story is bizarre to say the least. A Canadian beer company, under the instruction of baroness Lady Port-Huntley (Rossellini) (who lost her legs in unfortunate circumstances), holds a competition to discover the "saddest music in the world." Competitors arrive from every country to vie for the $25,000 prize, including a smug washed-up Broadway producer (Mark McKinney, of 'Kids in the Hall' fame); his cellist brother (Ross McMillan), a hypochondriac nursing a broken heart (quite literally); and their father (David Fox), an alcoholic war veteran who is in love with Lady Port-Huntley. Not bizarre enough, you say? Well, Lady Port-Huntley gets herself a new pair of legs, made entirely out of glass and beer. As you do. This film is perverse, surreal, and extremely wacky; you can't deny that Maddin's got a quirky sense of humour. I don't know exactly what to make of it, but I didn't mind it.
The story is bizarre to say the least. A Canadian beer company, under the instruction of baroness Lady Port-Huntley (Rossellini) (who lost her legs in unfortunate circumstances), holds a competition to discover the "saddest music in the world." Competitors arrive from every country to vie for the $25,000 prize, including a smug washed-up Broadway producer (Mark McKinney, of 'Kids in the Hall' fame); his cellist brother (Ross McMillan), a hypochondriac nursing a broken heart (quite literally); and their father (David Fox), an alcoholic war veteran who is in love with Lady Port-Huntley. Not bizarre enough, you say? Well, Lady Port-Huntley gets herself a new pair of legs, made entirely out of glass and beer. As you do. This film is perverse, surreal, and extremely wacky; you can't deny that Maddin's got a quirky sense of humour. I don't know exactly what to make of it, but I didn't mind it.
Visually interesting but the style wears thin
rosscinema12 June 2004
Warning: Spoilers
If your a fan of the director than you have a head start than most viewers but for others this exercise in style seems to wear out pretty fast despite a unique approach to it's look and story. Story is suppose to take place during the Depression in 1933 where in Winnipeg a legless beer baroness named Lady Port-Huntley (Isabella Rossellini) has created a contest where contestants from each country will try and win $25,000 by playing the saddest music in the world. America is represented by Chester Kent (Mark McKinney) who has his nymphomaniac girlfriend Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros) accompany him. Chester's father Fyodor (David Fox) is representing Canada and his brother Roderick (Ross McMillan) is representing Serbia.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
All of them have a history with Lady Huntley and years earlier they were involved in a car crash where a drunken Fyodor amputated the wrong leg and the end result was her having both legs cut off. Fyodor has been trying to get her to forgive him and he has built prosthetic legs made out of glass and filled with her own beer. The contest begins with two countries going at one time with one being eliminated and the other going on to the next round. During the contest Roderick discovers that his brothers girlfriend is actually his wife that has disappeared after their son died but she has amnesia and has forgotten it. The contest ends with brother against brother, Serbia versus America!
This film is directed by the incredibly imaginative Guy Maddin who makes films like you have never seen before and this is another visually interesting effort. This is filmed mostly in black and white in 8mm and video and has a look that seems truly inspired by F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. Both "Metropolis" and "Sunrise" came to mind as I watched this and this may be Maddin's homage to those filmmakers. Rossellini seems perfectly cast in her role and her strongest moments come as she wears her glass legs filled with beer but her performance seems overshadowed by the overall style of the film. While I appreciate what Maddin was trying to do I do think that the style grows quickly tiresome and the whole effort becomes a very tedious viewing. This is interesting for the first 20 minutes or so but to sustain the visualizations for an entire length of a film seems a tad much to ask of viewers.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
All of them have a history with Lady Huntley and years earlier they were involved in a car crash where a drunken Fyodor amputated the wrong leg and the end result was her having both legs cut off. Fyodor has been trying to get her to forgive him and he has built prosthetic legs made out of glass and filled with her own beer. The contest begins with two countries going at one time with one being eliminated and the other going on to the next round. During the contest Roderick discovers that his brothers girlfriend is actually his wife that has disappeared after their son died but she has amnesia and has forgotten it. The contest ends with brother against brother, Serbia versus America!
This film is directed by the incredibly imaginative Guy Maddin who makes films like you have never seen before and this is another visually interesting effort. This is filmed mostly in black and white in 8mm and video and has a look that seems truly inspired by F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. Both "Metropolis" and "Sunrise" came to mind as I watched this and this may be Maddin's homage to those filmmakers. Rossellini seems perfectly cast in her role and her strongest moments come as she wears her glass legs filled with beer but her performance seems overshadowed by the overall style of the film. While I appreciate what Maddin was trying to do I do think that the style grows quickly tiresome and the whole effort becomes a very tedious viewing. This is interesting for the first 20 minutes or so but to sustain the visualizations for an entire length of a film seems a tad much to ask of viewers.
Remarkable filmmaking
LGwriter4912 May 2004
Guy Maddin just gets better and better. In this, his latest film, he's outdone himself. The fusion of content and style is so brilliant, clever, and emotional, the film has to rank as one of the best of 2004 even with the year not yet being half over.
Set in 1933, "the depths of the Great Depression", the location is Winnipeg, Canada, home of Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rosselini), the astoundingly wealthy beer baroness of Canada, who decides to hold a contest to select the saddest music in the world--for business reasons, of course. Among the entrants are her former lover, Chester Kent (Mark McKinney), his current lover Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros), Chester's estranged brother Roderick (Ross McMillan)--separated from Narcissa, and the men's father, Duncan (Claude Dorge). Duncan represents Canada; Chester, America; and Roderick, Serbia (of all places).
The prize is $25,000, a fortune in those days, so naturally there are entrants from all over the world--among which are Mexico, Siam, and Africa. The music is inspired, but eventually converges on the lilting popular American tune The Song is You, for which there are diverse renditions in the course of the film. The show-stopper is the version by Chester near the end, a big band production that fuses influences, in typical American fashion, from all over the world.
Familial tensions converge with unrequited love, and with the most peculiar prostheses anyone has ever seen--either in real life or on film. Lady Port-Huntly is a double amputee, and he whose reckless mistake resulted in her unfortunate current condition fashions for her a pair of legs that must be seen to be believed.
The entire film is shot using a blue-haze filter, with a faux stereopticon effect that narrows the viewing screen to that resembling what one would see from the early days of film, and with the faintest, subtlest and tiniest of lags in action-speech synchronization that makes this uncannily resonate as a work fusing a 30s setting, a pre-20s style, and a contemporary sensibility that knows how to combine these elements in the first place. This is a truly brilliant--I would even call it genius--approach to filmmaking that noone else in the known world even remotely approaches. Maddin is one of the contemporary masters of cinema and this is the proof.
As soon as this is available on DVD, I will buy it immediately. I suggest you do the same.
Set in 1933, "the depths of the Great Depression", the location is Winnipeg, Canada, home of Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rosselini), the astoundingly wealthy beer baroness of Canada, who decides to hold a contest to select the saddest music in the world--for business reasons, of course. Among the entrants are her former lover, Chester Kent (Mark McKinney), his current lover Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros), Chester's estranged brother Roderick (Ross McMillan)--separated from Narcissa, and the men's father, Duncan (Claude Dorge). Duncan represents Canada; Chester, America; and Roderick, Serbia (of all places).
The prize is $25,000, a fortune in those days, so naturally there are entrants from all over the world--among which are Mexico, Siam, and Africa. The music is inspired, but eventually converges on the lilting popular American tune The Song is You, for which there are diverse renditions in the course of the film. The show-stopper is the version by Chester near the end, a big band production that fuses influences, in typical American fashion, from all over the world.
Familial tensions converge with unrequited love, and with the most peculiar prostheses anyone has ever seen--either in real life or on film. Lady Port-Huntly is a double amputee, and he whose reckless mistake resulted in her unfortunate current condition fashions for her a pair of legs that must be seen to be believed.
The entire film is shot using a blue-haze filter, with a faux stereopticon effect that narrows the viewing screen to that resembling what one would see from the early days of film, and with the faintest, subtlest and tiniest of lags in action-speech synchronization that makes this uncannily resonate as a work fusing a 30s setting, a pre-20s style, and a contemporary sensibility that knows how to combine these elements in the first place. This is a truly brilliant--I would even call it genius--approach to filmmaking that noone else in the known world even remotely approaches. Maddin is one of the contemporary masters of cinema and this is the proof.
As soon as this is available on DVD, I will buy it immediately. I suggest you do the same.
Unique Rhapsody
ASuiGeneris7 January 2018
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
Funny musical, Depressed, lovelorn, and rich, She hosts a contest. Ingenious concept by Loved author Ishiguro.
Mostly black and white, Prosthetic legs filled with beer, Crazy characters. Maddin's faded and grainy world, Rhapsody or creepy?
Somonka is a form of poetry that is essentially two tanka poems, the second stanza a response to the first. Each stanza follows a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern. Traditionally, each is a love letter. This form usually demands two authors, but it is possible to have a poet take on two personas. My somonka will be a love/hate letter to a film?
#Somonka #PoemReview
Funny musical, Depressed, lovelorn, and rich, She hosts a contest. Ingenious concept by Loved author Ishiguro.
Mostly black and white, Prosthetic legs filled with beer, Crazy characters. Maddin's faded and grainy world, Rhapsody or creepy?
Somonka is a form of poetry that is essentially two tanka poems, the second stanza a response to the first. Each stanza follows a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern. Traditionally, each is a love letter. This form usually demands two authors, but it is possible to have a poet take on two personas. My somonka will be a love/hate letter to a film?
#Somonka #PoemReview
Through a beer glass, sideways
paul2001sw-110 February 2009
'The Saddest Music in the World' is a kind of pastiche of 1920s film-making, with interspersed scenes in cod-Technicolour; but to really give a flavour of its oddness, I should say that it's the tale of an amputee brewery heiress with a pair of glass legs, filled up with beer (writer Kazuo Ishiguro borrowing from one of his own novels in the story of how she lost her originals). In truth, this is a very silly film, but it's almost a triumph, in that the silliness is controlled, with every crazy scene is consistent in tone and adding to the bizarre atmosphere. But it's hard to assert that the movie amounts to much more than a demonstration that it was technically possible to make it - it can't be taken seriously, and it's not really funny (rather, it's the sort of film that only makes you laugh because of its audaciousness in what it dares to pass off as comedy). But you certainly won't see too many other movies like it; and director Guy Maddin makes brilliant use of the heart-shaped face of Maria de Madeiros, which he makes look as if it really has just heard the saddest music ever.
Experiments, madness, comedy, drama, musical and some more...
vdg6 May 2004
Experiments, madness, comedy, drama, musical and some more.
I was unaware of Guy Maddin movies until I saw this one, so from the start to the end I was in awe about a director that came to me from nowhere and managed to surprise me. I am saying this as I have seen quite a few (1000's maybe) movies, and I am very hard to be surprised by something.
Without any doubt the movie IS one of the most original ones I've seen in years, and beside the strange techniques used (black/white grainy film, alternating with color-grainy as well, theater-like sets, etc..) the originality of the director is never the less amazing.
Of course quite a few people left the theater during the movie, but that's understandable, as this is just for the die-hard fans of good/art films. If you thought SALLO was a good movie, beside the cruelty on the screen, or if you actually understood Satyricon, then this movie might appeal you, otherwise don't waste your time on it.
I can't find a movie that can be related to this one, I just cannot!!! Great actors, great music and even a greater director: food for the soul.
8/10
I was unaware of Guy Maddin movies until I saw this one, so from the start to the end I was in awe about a director that came to me from nowhere and managed to surprise me. I am saying this as I have seen quite a few (1000's maybe) movies, and I am very hard to be surprised by something.
Without any doubt the movie IS one of the most original ones I've seen in years, and beside the strange techniques used (black/white grainy film, alternating with color-grainy as well, theater-like sets, etc..) the originality of the director is never the less amazing.
Of course quite a few people left the theater during the movie, but that's understandable, as this is just for the die-hard fans of good/art films. If you thought SALLO was a good movie, beside the cruelty on the screen, or if you actually understood Satyricon, then this movie might appeal you, otherwise don't waste your time on it.
I can't find a movie that can be related to this one, I just cannot!!! Great actors, great music and even a greater director: food for the soul.
8/10
Like a Dream
osolis29 November 2004
This is a review of the DVD.
First off, Guy Maddin's films are an acquired taste. Second, it helps to be a film fan and to have a knowledge and love of early cinema to truly appreciate them. Third, you must be willing to give yourself over totally to his particular vision. Don't even try to fight it. Do all this and get ready to enjoy.
"The Saddest Music in the World " is a wonderful amalgam of comedy, drama,
tragedy and farce. It's got a cast of characters that are familiar and yet strange at the same time. Just when you think it's heading in one direction, it yanks you in another. It has an internal logic just like a dream.
The photography, art direction and sound design add to the uniqueness of the
experience. The film feels like an artifact, a lost film that was hidden away by a studio in the '30s because it was too wild and broke too many rules. In fact, it's film-making that defies the system.
The DVD contains a making of featurette that is enjoyable to watch. There are also 3 short films. Only Maddin could make a film with the title "Sissy Boy Slap Party" and make it funny.
Please take a chance and rent/buy this film. It's not the typical Hollywood
product (although it mines Hollywood's past) and for that we should be glad.
I also have to recommend another film by Guy Maddin- "Dracula: Pages from a
Virgin's Diary", a silent film ballet. I got it sight unseen and love it. The director's commentary was worth the price alone.
I'm a Guy Maddin fan. I have developed an addiction for his work. Thank God!
First off, Guy Maddin's films are an acquired taste. Second, it helps to be a film fan and to have a knowledge and love of early cinema to truly appreciate them. Third, you must be willing to give yourself over totally to his particular vision. Don't even try to fight it. Do all this and get ready to enjoy.
"The Saddest Music in the World " is a wonderful amalgam of comedy, drama,
tragedy and farce. It's got a cast of characters that are familiar and yet strange at the same time. Just when you think it's heading in one direction, it yanks you in another. It has an internal logic just like a dream.
The photography, art direction and sound design add to the uniqueness of the
experience. The film feels like an artifact, a lost film that was hidden away by a studio in the '30s because it was too wild and broke too many rules. In fact, it's film-making that defies the system.
The DVD contains a making of featurette that is enjoyable to watch. There are also 3 short films. Only Maddin could make a film with the title "Sissy Boy Slap Party" and make it funny.
Please take a chance and rent/buy this film. It's not the typical Hollywood
product (although it mines Hollywood's past) and for that we should be glad.
I also have to recommend another film by Guy Maddin- "Dracula: Pages from a
Virgin's Diary", a silent film ballet. I got it sight unseen and love it. The director's commentary was worth the price alone.
I'm a Guy Maddin fan. I have developed an addiction for his work. Thank God!
Solid
Cosmoeticadotcom20 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Guy Maddin is a filmmaker I've heard a lot of. Not good, not bad, but weird. So, it is no surprise that his hundred minute long 2004 film The Saddest Music In The World is not good, not bad, simply weird. Visually, however, it's a truly brilliant work, with color freely mixing with black and white, on contrived sets that evoke German Expressionism from the 1920s, and with Vaseline smeared on the lenses to give it a softer look. It also has a grainier feel in some sections, and reputedly was shot on 8mm film, then blown up to make it even grainier looking, as if it was just uncovered from some old studio's vault. The only other recent film that I've seen that invokes such a different place, time, and worldview was Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow, which was also set in the 1930s. However, whereas that film was an homage to the classic serials and set in New York City, and global vista, and shot all on blue screen, this film is set in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada, and the world comes to Winnipeg, which has been chosen by the London Times as the world capital of sorrow, four years running.
Reputedly, the film is based upon a screenplay by the highly regarded novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (most famous for The Remains Of The Day) which Maddin and co-writer George Toles added their own idiosyncratic spin to. The plot is rather thin, and follows a legless and blondly bewigged beer baroness, Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini), who decides to capitalize on the impending revocation of Prohibition in America top make a killing. She decides to hold a musical contest to determine the saddest music in the world, and offers a prize of $25,000.
Overall, The Saddest Music In The World is one of those films that I am loath to comment too harshly on. This is because while it fails, overall, as a film, one cannot help but admire the daring and vision of a director like Maddin. After all, in this dumbed down cookie cutter world of film put forth by megabucks Hollywood schlockmeisters like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and George Lucas, Maddin can easily and rightly be seen as a hero to art-house, indy film lovers.
However, none of that concerns me as a critic. So, I have to say that, despite some razzle-dazzle, and the best of intentions, The Saddest Music In The World ultimately is not a good film. No, it's not a bad film, but one has to wonder what it might have been if the original Ishiguro screenplay had been more faithfully followed. Perhaps then it might have had some of the depth and real inquisitive power that great art has. As it is it is merely a curio. But, occasionally, them things can be damned flashy, can't they?
Reputedly, the film is based upon a screenplay by the highly regarded novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (most famous for The Remains Of The Day) which Maddin and co-writer George Toles added their own idiosyncratic spin to. The plot is rather thin, and follows a legless and blondly bewigged beer baroness, Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini), who decides to capitalize on the impending revocation of Prohibition in America top make a killing. She decides to hold a musical contest to determine the saddest music in the world, and offers a prize of $25,000.
Overall, The Saddest Music In The World is one of those films that I am loath to comment too harshly on. This is because while it fails, overall, as a film, one cannot help but admire the daring and vision of a director like Maddin. After all, in this dumbed down cookie cutter world of film put forth by megabucks Hollywood schlockmeisters like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, and George Lucas, Maddin can easily and rightly be seen as a hero to art-house, indy film lovers.
However, none of that concerns me as a critic. So, I have to say that, despite some razzle-dazzle, and the best of intentions, The Saddest Music In The World ultimately is not a good film. No, it's not a bad film, but one has to wonder what it might have been if the original Ishiguro screenplay had been more faithfully followed. Perhaps then it might have had some of the depth and real inquisitive power that great art has. As it is it is merely a curio. But, occasionally, them things can be damned flashy, can't they?
Could this be the greatest ever Depression-era backstage musical starring an amputee?
paulduane28 October 2003
As anybody can see from the comments, you either 'get' Maddin or you don't. Ever since seeing 'Archangel' at the Toronto Film Festival in 1990, I've known that I am forever condemned to be one of his helpless, slavering acolytes. The way that he uses 'old film' tropes (jumps, scratches, bad post-sync, fuzzy sound, deteriorating film stock, deteriorating actors, deteriorating genres) is unlike any other director I've ever heard of. To some people it's a pointless exercise because who even watches REAL old movies, let alone perverse half-assed reconstructions of some old-movie half-remembered through a fog of delirium tremens. But the pointlessness IS the point, and so is the fact that he keeps obsessively returning to his obscure hometown of Winnipeg. This film is an apotheosis of all things Winnipegian, placing it at the heart of the world at least for 99 minutes. I love the local radio station that broadcasts to the whole world, and the montage sequences - Scotsmen, Africans, Mongolians all dropping everything and packing their instruments to flood into Canada for the titular song contest. I love the acting, which is pitch-perfect and never tilts over into smirking campery. I love the music and I love the full-blooded ending, which is as savage and as moving as the best of '30s melodrama. I love this movie, and I love the fact that Guy Maddin has now allied himself with Isabella Rossellini (they are apparently planning a biopic of her father Roberto) and from now on it will be much more difficult to sideline him as some backwoods dilettante with a silent cinema fixation. Tomorrow, the world!
The Saddest Music In The World
cultfilmfan24 June 2005
The Saddest Music In The World, is based on an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. The film is set in the 1930's in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada during the Great Depression. A beer baroness named Lady Port-Huntley, announces that she will be having a contest where people from countries all over the world will compete and play music and the country with the saddest music will win twenty five thousand dollars. An American named Chester Kent, who used to have a relationship with Lady Port-Huntley, wants to win the contest and plans to use the current girl he is with named Narcissa, as the singer. Chester's father is also entering the contest as is his brother Roderick, who thinks he can play a sad song seeing as his son had died several years ago and his wife left him. Soon, Roderick begins to believe that Narcissa, is his wife who left him. The only person who has never seemed to be affected by sadness is Chester. He saw his mom die as a child but has never cried in his life and has always been happy. But now he needs to find a way to write some sad songs to win the big prize. Winner of The Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at The Chlotrudis Awards, The DGC Craft Award for Outstanding Achievement In Production Design For A Feature Film at The Directors Guild of Canada, The Genie Award for Best Achievement In Costume Design, Best Achievement In Editing and Best Achievement In Music - Original Score at The Genie Awards and The Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Director (Guy Maddin, who also wrote the film's screenplay) at The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. The Saddest Music In The World, has good direction, a good adapted screenplay, good performances from everyone involved, good original music, good cinematography, good film editing, good production design, good set decoration, good costume design and good makeup. The Saddest Music In The World, is a great looking film. The film is in black and white and is grainy and made to look like a film made in the early 1900's and it really does (which may turn some viewers off). The actors also do a great job and all the people who worked behind the camera on the sets, costumes, makeup and cinematography should really be applauded. This is a really great looking film and is very well made. Other than being very impressed by the visuals and the way the film was made it really didn't do too much for me. The film is very offbeat and it has some very clever and sometimes brilliant scenes but the movie doesn't work as a whole. At times it gets confusing and pretty muddled and even boring at times. I liked what the film was trying to do and I think if it was a little more focused then it would have been a great film but the result we get is not. It's not a terrible film but I'am mostly rating it this high because of the film's visuals and the way it was made and not for the film itself.
A rich, dark pool of allusion and illusion
lindacamidge31 October 2004
If you like Ishiguro's novels, and like pre-1960 film (especially if your tastes can encompass musicals, the vibrant hallucinogenic dreams of early technicolour and German expressionism), you will love this. It has the dark, disturbing and mutedly surreal quality of Ishiguro's best novels - particularly The Unconsoled - and enough barely-glimpsed instances of homage to keep whole covens of film buffs happy for many a winter's evening.
In some senses a riff on Moulin Rouge, Saddest Music is also disturbingly reminiscent of those Japanese game shows which sometimes surface, like weird fish, on UK television. It also has something to say about the States, and Canada (that'll be Leonard Cohen's Canada) and the relationship between the two. As if this cultural mix were not sufficiently heady, the music contest format overlays the plot with innocent, pre-ironic vignettes from a range of European countries, Mexico and "Africa".
Oh, and have a beer to hand. Choose popcorn, you'll just end up thirsty.
In some senses a riff on Moulin Rouge, Saddest Music is also disturbingly reminiscent of those Japanese game shows which sometimes surface, like weird fish, on UK television. It also has something to say about the States, and Canada (that'll be Leonard Cohen's Canada) and the relationship between the two. As if this cultural mix were not sufficiently heady, the music contest format overlays the plot with innocent, pre-ironic vignettes from a range of European countries, Mexico and "Africa".
Oh, and have a beer to hand. Choose popcorn, you'll just end up thirsty.
Exactly why I don't like Guy Maddin
cherold14 July 2008
I find Guy Maddin a frustrating director. His films have an interesting visual style and some amusing ideas, yet I always find myself restless and bored, not because Maddin fails in what he's trying to do but because he succeeds at doing something I find unappealing.
Saddest Music has a typical Maddin approach. The movie aims to create something akin to old films of the 20s and 30s. Not brilliant old movies like All Quiet on the Western Front or The Thin Man but bad old movies. This film purposely has inane dialog, hammy acting, jumpy editing and muddled visuals.
Why? I suppose it's an art thing. Saddest Music basically plays like a rather pretentious student film that should be about 20 minutes long. At 20 minutes, this might be worth watching, but I cannot for the life of me understand how Maddin's films are successful enough for him to have a career.
Still, Maddin makes films for people who like this sort of thing, so I'm not really qualified to judge, any more than I can judge the quality of gay porn or brain pudding. Like Saddest Music, these are things made for someone else entirely.
Saddest Music has a typical Maddin approach. The movie aims to create something akin to old films of the 20s and 30s. Not brilliant old movies like All Quiet on the Western Front or The Thin Man but bad old movies. This film purposely has inane dialog, hammy acting, jumpy editing and muddled visuals.
Why? I suppose it's an art thing. Saddest Music basically plays like a rather pretentious student film that should be about 20 minutes long. At 20 minutes, this might be worth watching, but I cannot for the life of me understand how Maddin's films are successful enough for him to have a career.
Still, Maddin makes films for people who like this sort of thing, so I'm not really qualified to judge, any more than I can judge the quality of gay porn or brain pudding. Like Saddest Music, these are things made for someone else entirely.
Sad, Mad, Shocking, and Funny
Galina_movie_fan16 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Just for starters - film takes place in Winnipeg, Canada, "The world capital of sorrow" in 1933 during the Great Depression. A legless beer baroness, Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini in a blond wig) organizes a contest to find the saddest music in the world. Musicians from around the globe arrive to Winnipeg to try and win a $25,000 prize. Among them is Chester (Mark McKinney), her old boyfriend who arrived with his lover, Bosnian singer Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros of "Pulp Fiction"), the amnesiac nymphomaniac who listens the advice of a telepathic tapeworm in her bowels. Chester's brother Roderick (Ross McMillan) is the contestant from Serbia performing by the name Gavrilla the Great, hiding his face under the big veil and looking like Salvador Dali in his craziest. He is overwhelmed by the death of his young son and looks for his long lost wife, who happened to be Narcissa who had lost her memory and does remember neither him nor their little boy. Chester's and Roderick's father Fyodor (David Fox) enters for Canada. He's got his own sad story. One night while drunk, he caused a car crash and attempted to save his lover by amputating her crushed leg -- but, being drunk cut off the wrong leg. The lover was Lady Port-Huntly who at the time of the crash was cheating on Fyodor with Chester in the car. Is it crazy enough? Wait until you see it. Visually, the film is nothing I've seen before but I understand that Maddin's fans will recognize his very distinguished style - the film shot in black and white, and edited in such a way as to recall the old pictures from the 1930s. There are a couple of color scenes, and those moments stand alone. One of the most striking color images is Isabella Rossellini standing on glass legs filled with beer from her breweries. If for nothing else, the film should be seen for this jaw - dropping moment.
It is certainly not for everyone but I am glad I saw it. How could I not like this dialog?
Fyodor: Are you an American?
Narcissa: No, I'm not an American. I'm a nymphomaniac
Fyodor: As long as you are not an American, you can be anything you want
It is certainly not for everyone but I am glad I saw it. How could I not like this dialog?
Fyodor: Are you an American?
Narcissa: No, I'm not an American. I'm a nymphomaniac
Fyodor: As long as you are not an American, you can be anything you want
The Weirdest Movie in the World
claudio_carvalho11 September 2006
In 1933, in Winnipeg during the American Great Depression, the legless baroness of beer industry, Lady Helen Port-Huntley (Isabella Rossellini), promotes a contest to choose the saddest music in the world and find where the real drinkers are. People come from all parts of the world, including her former lover Chester Kent (Marc McKinney) representing USA with the nymphomaniac amnesic Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros); his brother, who misses his dead son and his vanishing wife, Roderick Kent / Gravillo the Great (Ross McMillan), representing Serbia; and his father and the man who sever her legs in a car accident, Fyodor Kent (David Fox). During the competition, Roderick finds his missing wife.
"The Saddest Music in the World" is certainly one, if not the most, of the weirdest movie I have ever seen. This is the first work of the Canadian director Guy Maddin that I have watched and I found this flick really bizarre. In an atmosphere of nightmare, the surreal story uses the approach of the dramatic "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" but like a dark comedy instead. The cast and the cinematography are excellent, but I did not like this very unconventional and grotesque story. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
"The Saddest Music in the World" is certainly one, if not the most, of the weirdest movie I have ever seen. This is the first work of the Canadian director Guy Maddin that I have watched and I found this flick really bizarre. In an atmosphere of nightmare, the surreal story uses the approach of the dramatic "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" but like a dark comedy instead. The cast and the cinematography are excellent, but I did not like this very unconventional and grotesque story. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): Not Available
All ideas, no meaning
federovsky14 May 2017
I spent the whole time asking myself whether I was enjoying this. I tried, but I'm still not sure. I did appreciate the film making. The director clearly asked 'what can we do with the camera?' and the answer was 'anything'. There were many beautiful shots that had me hitting the pause button. A lot of it had an experimental feel - but that wasn't the problem. The story, based on an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro (perhaps they should have stuck to the original), felt like it was concocted by different people trying to outdo each other with silly ideas (tapeworms, beer-filled glass legs, sleeping in the snow, a character based on Gavrilo Princip - you quickly stopped asking why) - but that wasn't the problem either.
The film might have been a collaboration between David Lynch, Orson Welles, Eisenstein, and the Brothers Quay - each of them disagreeing what the film should be about. It was worth trying. I quickly got used to the extremely smudgy effect - as if the lens had been smothered in vaseline - and I appreciated Isabella Rosselini (looking and sounding like her mother) and the big-eyed Maria de Madeiros.
The backdrop was a music contest between international contestants to find the world's saddest music. The face-off heats was pure Python but it was all kept strangely distant. There were several problems: the emotional drama between the father and the two sons was dreary, as such issues always are. Secondly, it wasn't funny, and that was because it was all art and no emotional intelligence. Thirdly, it said nothing. It was full of ideas, but they were all microscopic, worked out at scene level - or even frame level. The whole thing put together didn't add up to anything. In the end, the images were everything, and that is always going to be disappointing.
The film might have been a collaboration between David Lynch, Orson Welles, Eisenstein, and the Brothers Quay - each of them disagreeing what the film should be about. It was worth trying. I quickly got used to the extremely smudgy effect - as if the lens had been smothered in vaseline - and I appreciated Isabella Rosselini (looking and sounding like her mother) and the big-eyed Maria de Madeiros.
The backdrop was a music contest between international contestants to find the world's saddest music. The face-off heats was pure Python but it was all kept strangely distant. There were several problems: the emotional drama between the father and the two sons was dreary, as such issues always are. Secondly, it wasn't funny, and that was because it was all art and no emotional intelligence. Thirdly, it said nothing. It was full of ideas, but they were all microscopic, worked out at scene level - or even frame level. The whole thing put together didn't add up to anything. In the end, the images were everything, and that is always going to be disappointing.
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