The Saddest Music in the World

There is no mistaking a Guy Maddin film for the work of any other director. Although his latest movie, The Saddest Music in the World, pays fleeting tribute to everything from the Hollywood musicals of the Depression-era to the works of Luis Buñuel and David Lynch (among others), it bristles with a life and energy that is all its own.

Despite this being his first film with a (relatively) large budget and major stars, Winnipeg's favorite son shows no signs of slowing down or softening his trademark, antic style. Adapted from a Kazuo Ishiguro script set in 1980s London, The Saddest Music in the World begins on a fittingly bizarro note: the year is 1933, and Winnipeg has just been declared the world capital of sorrow. Evidently embracing the maxim that all publicity is good publicity, local beer heiress Lady Port-Huntley (Isabella Rossellini) decides to capitalize on this announcement by sponsoring a contest to find the saddest music in the world.

Musicians from all over the globe descend on the city, including two brothers, Chester (Mark McKinney) and Roderick (Ross McMillan). Although both boys grew up in Winnipeg under the not-so-watchful eye of Duncan (Claude Dorge), their drunken physician father, Chester has embraced the optimistic, can-do spirit of his neighbors to the south, whereas Roderick has flocked to Serbia, eager to immerse himself in the nation's mournful musical spirit. Complicating matters is the presence of Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros), Chester's nymphomaniac, amnesiac girlfriend who also happens to be Roderick's long-lost wife and the mother of his dead son.

Chester's arrival in town also sparks the interest of Lady Port-Huntley, who was his lover prior to the car accident in which she lost both her legs in a drunken amputation attempt by Duncan. Ever since the accident, Duncan has sworn off drinking and devoted his life to winning the forgiveness of Lady Port-Huntley, whom he remains madly in love with.

The film is shot in black & white, with the exception of a few funeral sequences and the final musical number, which are given a hazy color treatment (reminiscent of "special" color sequences that appeared in older movies, e.g. the fashion show that occurs in the middle of George Cukor's The Women). Despite editing the film on Avid, Maddin's approach is no less hands-on than it was in his previous films, and one can sense his obvious delight in playing with medium. Certain frames are tinted, and the musical competition is presented in a hilarious fashion that calls to mind the MTV boxing show "Celebrity Death Match."

The film's actors also tackle their roles with palpable relish. Mark McKinney, best known his work on Kids in the Hall, stands out as Chester, whose unflagging optimism and unabashed allegiance to American showbiz mentality never fails to steal a scene. Rossellini, de Medeiros, McMillan, and Dorge all provide terrific support, as do the many real-life musicians on hand to offer up their songs of sadness.

As Chester might put it: an unusual, unmistakable, unmissable film.