The Saddest Music in the World (2003)

Director:

Guy Maddin

Writers:

Kazuo Ishiguro (original screenplay)
George Toles (written by) ...

Release Date:

1 September 2005 (Greece)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance | Fantasy | Comedy

Tagline:

"If you're sad, and like beer, I'm your lady."

Plot:

A sort-of musical set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, where a beer baroness organizes a contest to find the saddest music in the world. Musicians from around the world descend on the city to try and win first place - a $25,000 prize.

Plot Keywords:

Expressionism | Avant Garde | Black Comedy | Surrealism | Surreal

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Mark McKinney	...	Chester Kent
Isabella Rossellini	...	Lady Helen Port-Huntley
Maria de Medeiros	...	Narcissa
David Fox	...	Fyodor Kent
Ross McMillan	...	Roderick Kent / Gravillo the Great
Louis Negin	...	Blind Seer
Darcy Fehr	...	Teddy
Claude Dorge	...	Duncan Elksworth
Talia Pura	...	Mary
Jeff Sutton	...	Young Chester
Graeme Valentin	...	Young Roderick
Maggie Nagle	...	Chester's Mother
Victor Cowie	...	Man in Bar
Jessica Burleson	...	Lady's Secretary
Wayne Nicklas	...	Boardmember

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and violent images.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIB | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Manitoba Production Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Rhombus Media

Trivia:

Some actors are given an "additional camera" credit, as they shot footage on handheld Super8 cameras.

Quotes:

Chester Kent: Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Weird Sex & Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Dulce Adios

10/10

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