Charming silent film with rampant editing, dizzy imagery, simultaneous narrator and text frames... basically everything imaginable to test the audience´s endurance to a headache. At times there are about five images in one second, all of them recorded with a shaky camera going in and out of focus. Text frames pop up for a mili second before appearing again for someone to actually read them. The film does an aggresive effort to be as obtuse as it possibly can. It has the appearance of an ancient found-footage film but a severely damaged one, beyond restoration. Text frames add comedy and poetry while the narrator tells the story, but they often do so at the same time, making it an implacable experience.
It is charming, though, actors do justice to silent films gestures and overall mystery. At its best, the expressionistic montage does evoke rich emotions and the plot makes Wes Anderson seem unimaginative. It is bold film-making, very creative art-house indeed, but my first experience with Guy Maddin´s work was too demanding and didn´t quite reward my commitment.
It is charming, though, actors do justice to silent films gestures and overall mystery. At its best, the expressionistic montage does evoke rich emotions and the plot makes Wes Anderson seem unimaginative. It is bold film-making, very creative art-house indeed, but my first experience with Guy Maddin´s work was too demanding and didn´t quite reward my commitment.