Saddest Music in the World, The

Aroview: Another stunning tableaux from dir. Maddin's ongoing series of fantasies inspired by the musty, spectral qualities of early cinema, this time setting its plot around a beer tycoon's (Rossellini) efforts to find the world's most melancholic musical strains and thus inspire the population of Winnipeg to drink more!

Although set around the familiar iconography of the 1930s Depression, this soon spirals into a number of strange subplots, all bound together with the structure of an oldtime musical. However, be warned that Maddin's concerns are resolutely artful, and the montage of visual puns, send-ups and dream visions is baffling and surreal at times. Note: Funnily enough, this was based on a previously unfilmed screenplay by Japanese director Ishiguro.

NZ International Film Festival 2004

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