Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on January 26, 2007 at 14:26:50

2003 Canadian film set in 1933 Winnipeg - the saddest city in the World - starring Isabella Rossellini as Lady Helen Port-Huntley, a beeress in Canada, who has an idea: People drink beer when they are sad, America is in the middle of prohibition, and, being in the saddest city in the World, she will host a Saddest Music in the World competition, pitting various countries against each other, the winner of each round robin competition getting to slide down a slide into her beer, and advancing in the competition. This will be a great gimmick to entice beer starved folks in the U.S. to get drunk on her beer.

Ah, but we have more. Some history. Seems Lady Port-Huntley was involved with a man named Fyodor, a doctor, played by David Fox, whose son Chester, played by Mark McKinney (of Kids in the Hall fame) also had visions of lust. The three of them were in a car accident where Lady Huntley one leg was trapped. The good doctor, being drunk, amputated the wrong leg at the scene of the accident, leaving her with two stumps.

Fast forward. Chester has left for New York to produce Broadway plays. Roderick, Fyodor's other son, played by Ross McMillan, left for Serbia, where he married, had a son, whose son has died, and whose very little remains he carries in a jar of his tears.

Because of the contest, Chester and Roderick return to Canada representing their respective countries. Chester returns in tow with his girlfriend Narcissa, played by Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros, something of a floozy, who gets advice from her psychic tape worm (no kidding). Fyodor represents Cananda in the contest.

Fyodor, never loosing his love for Lady Huntley, and never feeling sorry for sawing off her good leg, has spent his life developing replacement legs - glass legs containing her beer. Which she actually uses.

If this plot sounds goofy, well, the look of the film is even stranger. In a very good way. Think of the scratchiness and darkness of silent films, combined with 30's monster film camera angles, with Astaire era singing and dance numbers, with a does of vasoline around the camera (really) for some scenes to create a looking through a glass effect, with really fake backdrops, and you only being to understand the visual effect.

This is probably one of the strangest films I have ever seen, and one of the best. This is a completely original work, and while my description of the film's style cannot only begin to draw a picture, it does capture the essence of the film. With a film this quirky, why not go all the way?

Describing the acting would be useless. The actors are loving their roles. The directing? This is such a director's film, and it is him. The film was directed by Guy Maddin, and shot almost entirely in a warehouse in Winnipeg. I was unfamiliar with his work, but he must be one of the most original directors working in film today. There is simply not another director with his visual style.

The film was based upon a book written by Kazuo Ishiguro - the same chap who wrote Remains of the Day and The White Countess. To say that this gem is a departure would be an understatement.

If you can only watch serious fare, if you must only watch films as a mental exercise, or your face will crack if you smile, stay away. But if you like silly, original, creative work that does not take itself seriously, then you MUST see this film.