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September 15, 2005
So Sad It's Good
The Saddest Music in the World
Theatrical Release: April 30, 2004 Directed by Guy Maddin
Starring: Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, Maria de Medeiros, David Fox, and
Ross McMillan
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro, George Toles, and Guy Maddin
It’s hard to describe Guy Maddin’s aesthetic to someone who has never seen one of his films – imagine Federico Fellini, David Lynch and Pee-Wee Herman collaborating on a remake of The Gods Must be Crazy – they are usually quite odd and, in my opinion, quite good.
His latest film takes place in the winter of 1933 in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Maddin’s hometown), named four years running by the London Times “The World Capitol of Sorrow in the Great Depression.” To celebrate this commemoration the legless beer baroness Lady Port-Huntley (Rossellini) announces a contest to see what nation’s music truly is the saddest in the world. News spreads quickly around the world and soon people from Tokyo to Nairobi are braving the Winnipeg winter to compete for a "Jewel Studded Crown of Frozen Tears” and $25,000 in prize money -- doesn’t specify American or Canadian. (American would’ve been worth more at the time.)
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Do you know what they call American cheese in Canada?
Exactly. Canadian cheese.
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Anyway, the characters in this film are so intertwined they are almost knotted. Fyodor Kent (David Fox) is an old, alcoholic doctor in love with Lady Port-Huntley, the girlfriend of his son Chester (Mark McKinney). There are several flashback scenes of Fyodor’s wife, the mother of Chester and his brother Roderick (Ross McMillan), suddenly falling dead while the family is playing music together. One night “Lady P” is giving Chester a blowjob while he’s driving. Suddenly he almost runs over his father, who is standing drunk in the middle of the road, and crashes. One of Lady P’s legs gets pinned by the car and Fyodor is so drunk he amputates the free leg by mistake, and then has to amputate the one that is pinned. This is why the baroness has no kickers. Now, Fyodor- representing Canada, Chester – The American ambassador of sadness who “has schmaltz routines that could ring sobs from a moose,” and Roderick – in disguise as a tortured Serbian cellist, are all in Winnipeg to compete in the contest.
I must say that the plot was not particularly moving to me, although the campy moments – such as when a country wins a round of the competition and the musicians get to climb onto a platform and slide into a giant vat of Lady Port-Huntley’s beer – are great. Visually the film is stunning. The movie acts and feels like one of the great expressionist films of the late silent era (except with sound), down to the Vaseline on the rims of the camera lenses to “frost” the edges of the shots. When a film is a visual marvel like this, to some extent, the plot should be secondary -- mainly a vehicle for the feeling and aesthetic of the film. From this perspective The Saddest Music in the World is a real achievement; it truly is a magical and weird tribute to those expressionist masterpieces . I dig.
Memorable Quotes:
“If you’re sad, and like beer, I’m your lady.” - Lady Port-Huntley
“Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass. It’s all showbiz.” - Chester Kent
“It’s like I’m painting things just by looking at them.” – Roderick Kent
| By Joshua Daniels | 12:20 AM