TrueIndigo
Well-known member
I would like to introduce the films of Canadian director Guy Maddin to anyone who does not already know of his feature work. Difficult to describe, but here goes: low-budget and hand-made personal self-expression unexpectedly put to work in creating dreamy fairy tales with primitive imagery (often shot on 16mm or Super-8). It results in parody-like expressionist silent or early sound cinema but with a modern sense of humour and inhibition, usually featuring obsessive characters caught up in the multi-layered strangeness of non-stop uncountable bizarre melodramas. Highly recommended for seekers of distinctive cinema. Anyone else like these?
Tales from the Gimli Hospital (1989)
Surreal tales shared by two patients confined together in a primitive hospital during a smallpox epidemic at the turn of the century.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096218/
Archangel (1991)
Confusion arises with a trio of lovers suffering from severe memory disorders who come together in an ice-bound Russian town of Archangel near the end of WWI.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099053/
Careful (1992)
In a remote Alpine village at the turn of the century, the locals must be restrained at all times lest an avalanche kills them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103926
Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997)
A small group of strange characters experience various feelings of unrequited love on a tropical island ensuing odd inter-connections between them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120393/
Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary (2002)
Recreation of a Victorian stage production of Dracula.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293113/
Cowards Bend the Knee (2003)
Imaginary autobiography whose chapters recall a variety of old movie classics.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346800/
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
In Winnipeg during the Great Depression, a legless beer baroness organises a contest to find the saddest music in the world.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366996/
Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
Guy Maddin reluctantly returns to his childhood home, an abandoned Canadian island where his parents ran a small orphanage in a lighthouse; memories re-assert themselves of strange experiments performed on the orphans.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443455/
Keyhole (2011)
A gangster takes a reflective journey, room by room, through his home. [I have not yet seen this latest movie]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674775/
Tales from the Gimli Hospital (1989)
Surreal tales shared by two patients confined together in a primitive hospital during a smallpox epidemic at the turn of the century.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096218/
Archangel (1991)
Confusion arises with a trio of lovers suffering from severe memory disorders who come together in an ice-bound Russian town of Archangel near the end of WWI.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099053/
Careful (1992)
In a remote Alpine village at the turn of the century, the locals must be restrained at all times lest an avalanche kills them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103926
Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997)
A small group of strange characters experience various feelings of unrequited love on a tropical island ensuing odd inter-connections between them.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120393/
Dracula: Pages From a Virgin's Diary (2002)
Recreation of a Victorian stage production of Dracula.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293113/
Cowards Bend the Knee (2003)
Imaginary autobiography whose chapters recall a variety of old movie classics.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346800/
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
In Winnipeg during the Great Depression, a legless beer baroness organises a contest to find the saddest music in the world.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366996/
Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
Guy Maddin reluctantly returns to his childhood home, an abandoned Canadian island where his parents ran a small orphanage in a lighthouse; memories re-assert themselves of strange experiments performed on the orphans.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443455/
Keyhole (2011)
A gangster takes a reflective journey, room by room, through his home. [I have not yet seen this latest movie]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674775/
Last edited: