The Saddest Music in the World (2004): ****1/2
The Saddest Music in the World
Dir. Guy Maddin
With Isabella Rossellini, Mark McKinney, Maria de Mederios, Ross MacMillian, and a cast of thousands.
Not rated, though there's some sexual innuendo and implied amateur amputation that might not make this ideal for impressionable audiences.
The year is 1933, and America is about to lift Prohibition. In celebration of this, Winnipeg beer magnate Lady Port Huntley (Isabella Rossellini, in the role of her career) holds a contest to determine which country's music "truly deserves to be called the saddest in the world." Contestants swarm in from all four corners of the world, including a few with whom "Lady P" has, shall we say, intimate acquaintence -- Chester Kent (Mark McKinney, who you may know as the Headcrusher from The Kids in the Hall), a slimy Broadway producer, and his morose Serbian brother Roderick (MacMillian), aka "Gavrillo the Great". The Kent family's entrance into the Saddest Music contest leads to several dramatic revelations, including a recollection of the automobile accident that caused Lady P to lose both her legs, and the identity of a beautiful amnesiac (de Maderios) with a talking tapeworm.
While the film deftly satirizes the American tradition of spectacle, its rococo visual sense, bizarre characters, and musical numbers really set it apart. Several versions of "The Song Is You" filter through the film (including an unforgettable rendition by the amnesiac and a team of hockey players), and the film's concluding rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" -- as performed by a group of Eskimos and the aforementioned double-amputee, duded up in glass legs filled with beer (!) -- must be seen to be believed. Likewise, the film's scenery, costumes, cinematography, and editing suggest The Red Shoes as staged in a snow-globe.
The actors carry off their roles -- from amnesiac to beer baroness to depressive Serbian cellist -- with verve and conviction. Rossellini, resplendent in platinum wig, tiara, and beer legs, attacks her role with glee, but I must draw special attention to Ross MacMillian, an actor rarely seen outside of director Guy Maddin's films. The role of Roderick (stage name Gavrillo the Great, in honor of the Serbian assassin of King Ferdinand and inadvertant catalyst for World War I) might have come off as a neurotic mess, and though the text does not always support his performance, he invests such sadness and dignity in Roderick. As an audience member, I really ached for this man.
After seeing this film three times in a month, I can find small nitpicky things that bring it down. The pace lags, and a few details and characters (specifically Narcissa, the amnesiac) could have been written out before the film was made to help make it a little easier to follow. As it stands, though, this nifty film serves as a great introduction to Guy Maddin. Fans of silent and early talkie films should see it, as well as those who found Moulin Rouge! a little lacking. (As a non-fan of MR!, I thought this seemed like that movie gone horribly, horribly right.) It's like nothing you've ever seen before, that much is for certain.
Dir. Guy Maddin
With Isabella Rossellini, Mark McKinney, Maria de Mederios, Ross MacMillian, and a cast of thousands.
Not rated, though there's some sexual innuendo and implied amateur amputation that might not make this ideal for impressionable audiences.
The year is 1933, and America is about to lift Prohibition. In celebration of this, Winnipeg beer magnate Lady Port Huntley (Isabella Rossellini, in the role of her career) holds a contest to determine which country's music "truly deserves to be called the saddest in the world." Contestants swarm in from all four corners of the world, including a few with whom "Lady P" has, shall we say, intimate acquaintence -- Chester Kent (Mark McKinney, who you may know as the Headcrusher from The Kids in the Hall), a slimy Broadway producer, and his morose Serbian brother Roderick (MacMillian), aka "Gavrillo the Great". The Kent family's entrance into the Saddest Music contest leads to several dramatic revelations, including a recollection of the automobile accident that caused Lady P to lose both her legs, and the identity of a beautiful amnesiac (de Maderios) with a talking tapeworm.
While the film deftly satirizes the American tradition of spectacle, its rococo visual sense, bizarre characters, and musical numbers really set it apart. Several versions of "The Song Is You" filter through the film (including an unforgettable rendition by the amnesiac and a team of hockey players), and the film's concluding rendition of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" -- as performed by a group of Eskimos and the aforementioned double-amputee, duded up in glass legs filled with beer (!) -- must be seen to be believed. Likewise, the film's scenery, costumes, cinematography, and editing suggest The Red Shoes as staged in a snow-globe.
The actors carry off their roles -- from amnesiac to beer baroness to depressive Serbian cellist -- with verve and conviction. Rossellini, resplendent in platinum wig, tiara, and beer legs, attacks her role with glee, but I must draw special attention to Ross MacMillian, an actor rarely seen outside of director Guy Maddin's films. The role of Roderick (stage name Gavrillo the Great, in honor of the Serbian assassin of King Ferdinand and inadvertant catalyst for World War I) might have come off as a neurotic mess, and though the text does not always support his performance, he invests such sadness and dignity in Roderick. As an audience member, I really ached for this man.
After seeing this film three times in a month, I can find small nitpicky things that bring it down. The pace lags, and a few details and characters (specifically Narcissa, the amnesiac) could have been written out before the film was made to help make it a little easier to follow. As it stands, though, this nifty film serves as a great introduction to Guy Maddin. Fans of silent and early talkie films should see it, as well as those who found Moulin Rouge! a little lacking. (As a non-fan of MR!, I thought this seemed like that movie gone horribly, horribly right.) It's like nothing you've ever seen before, that much is for certain.