guymaddin Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Guy Maddin Talks Night Mayors, Filmmaking, and Sissy Boys
Filed under: Shorts », Interviews », Toronto International Film Festival »
Guy Maddin is not your everyday director. Over the last twenty years, he's made a name for himself with his beautifully hazy black and white shorts and features, from the docufantasia wonder of My Winnipeg to the hops-filled thrills of Isabella Rossellini and The Saddest Music in the World. These projects have inspired many to call him the Canadian David Lynch, but while the two create rich fantasies for their films to thrive in, Maddin's always have a clear-cut narrative. The path might be surreal, strange, and utterly fantastical, but it's also easily understandable. With his latest, Night Mayor, Maddin turned an ode for the NFB's 70th anniversary into the tale of an immigrant who harnesses the power of the aurora borealis to help teach Canadians their national identity.
During TIFF, Cinematical had a chance to talk to the filmmaker about how Night Mayor came to be, Maddin's cinematic process, the magic of collaboration, and his next project (a choose-your-own adventure!). On top of more timely chatter, Guy also took a moment to share the story behind Sissy Boy Slap Party (my favorite guilty pleasure), and how a moment of spite turned into a memorable short.
TIFF Shorts Roundup: From Night Mayors to Runaways
Filed under: Festival Reports », Shorts », Toronto International Film Festival »
Toronto might have its own short film extravaganza -- the Worldwide Short Film Festival -- a week rife with pithy pieces of cinema. But every year, just a few months later, there's a second serving at TIFF with the collection Short Cuts Canada.
This year, the NFB (National Film Board of Canada) had a bunch of shorts in the mix, and when I got a handful in the mail, it was like an Oscar-led explosion. Talent abounds in these films. That's not entirely surprising considering the fact that we've got the latest from Oscar-winner Chris Landreth and Oscar-nominee Cordell Barker, plus a slew of other notable talent. Talent, I must say, that's topped with Night Mayor, the short the NFB commissioned Guy Maddin to do as part of the board's 70th anniversary.
Read on for the details of Night Mayor, Vive the Rose, The Spine, and Runaway.
Guy Maddin's New Short to Premiere at TIFF!
Filed under: Shorts », Exhibition », Toronto International Film Festival »
If there's a director out there who is deserving a larger audience, it's Guy Maddin. I plan to write more about that another time, but for now, I wanted to direct you to this piece of awesomeness. The Toronto International Film Festival is already planning a pretty killer line-up, and it's now been boosted by Mr. Maddin himself. The NFB has announced that Night Mayor will have its world premiere at the festival. (The picture above is one of the stills from the film.)
As I told you back in March, Night Mayor is a short drama that came out of Maddin's experiences immersed in the NFB archives. That might suggest that this will be some sort of creative montage, but nothing is typical in Maddin's world. The film is set in 1939, when Scottish immigrant John Grierson (father of Brit and Canadian documentary film) founded the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). "The deliberately implausible story portrays Nihad Ademi, a Bosnian immigrant, serving also as Winnipeg's 'night mayor,' who recruits his family to harness the multi-coloured waves of the Aurora Borealis, and use its power to broadcast images of his beloved adoptive country to its identity-starved citizens from coast to coast."
Alas, it's only a short, but hopefully another Maddin fantasia will be on the way soon.
Guy Maddin Celebrates the NFB with a New Film
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Deals »
Usually the insane brilliance of avant garde filmmakers would suffer under outside influence, but thus far, that hasn't been the case with Guy Maddin. On the heels of Brand Upon the Brain!, he gave us My Winnipeg, just about the best feature-length public service announcement or ode to a city one could imagine. It was meant to be part of a Canadian city collection that never materialized, and we can thank our lucky stars that his take ever made it to fruition.And now he's showing the Canadian love again! The NFB has announced that Maddin is making a film called Night Mayor for the NFB's 70th anniversary. There are no details on what this film will entail (not that details ever help describe a Maddin world), but it will be a short drama created after Maddin immersed himself in the NFB archives. "What he has envisioned is an imaginative cinematic riff on the significance of a public film producer."
The Canadian public moviemaking model has created a lot of unique visions over the years (Atom Egoyan, Sarah Polley, David Cronenberg, Don McKellar, Deepa Mehta...) and can you imagine Maddin riffing on any of them?
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New DVD Picks of the Week: 'Brand Upon the Brain!' & 'CJ7'
Filed under: Comedy », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », New Releases », DVD Reviews », New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
Brand Upon the Brain!If you ever loved the artistry of David Lynch, but thought his films were too dark and incomprehensible, there's Guy Maddin to ride in on a sea of comedic absurdity. With his silent film Brand Upon the Brain! he did something entirely different -- he created the ultimate live theater experience, one that can never be replicated at home unless you're ridiculously rich with a live orchestra, group of foley artists, a celebrity narrator, and a castrato at your disposal. But even still, this Criterion release does a fine job of coming close.
But first, the plot. The film focuses on a young Guy Maddin as he lives on a remote island that holds a lonely orphanage. His mother reigns with an iron fist and peeping watchtower while trying to reverse the weariness of age with her strange, scientist husband. Meanwhile, one of the orphans dies, strange holes are found on some of the kids, and some teen detectives come to investigate, all in the pulsing throb of teenage rebellion and sexuality.
While you can't create the live experience at home, Criterion has done everything possible to make this disc like the live experience. Each screening across Canada and the states had a celebrity narrator, and this disc allows you to choose between the seven narrators, which essentially gives you seven different ways to view the film -- from Maddin himself to Isabella Rossellini, John Ashbery, and Crispin Glover. There's also a documentary with interviews, two new short films, deleted scenes, a trailer, and an essay by Dennis Lim.
Check out James Rocchi's Review | Buy the DVD
Guy Maddin Inspires British Contest
Filed under: Comedy », Independent », Fandom », Contests », Cinematical Indie »
One of the greatest things about Guy Maddin is that his accomplishments come out of creativity and a spot-on eye, rather than money and flashy technology. Give the man an old camera, a few actors, and some weird props, and he can make a film that's not only engaging, but also visually stunning. He knows how to make the least become the most, and with the release of My Winnipeg, he's now inspiring others to do the same.Jam! reports that UK filmmakers are getting a change to get their Maddin on. Both newbie and experienced filmmakers are getting the chance to submit 3-minute odes to their hometown, and Guy says "anything's eligible." Considering the lap-linked Winnipeg, it's not surprising that the doors are wide open...
Anyhow, the online contest is going to give out 1,500 pounds to the winner and a roundtrip flight to ... dum dum dum ... WINNIPEG! Sure, they also get their film screened and included on the UK's DVD release of My Winnipeg. But who cares when you can head to the snowy wonderland? I'm hoping the winner at least gets to choose the season.
If you want more information, head here.
EXCLUSIVE: Clip from Guy Maddin's 'My Winnipeg'
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Independent », Cinematical Indie », Trailers and Clips »
"Winnipeg... Winnipeg... Winnipeg... Snowing, sleepwalking Winnipeg..." When Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg premiered at TIFF, you got a review, then came the exclusive and awesome poster, and then the trailer. Now Cinematical is happy to share the exclusive clip above. If you remember the picture attached to the review, well, this is more of the same -- those knights on a great white chessboard. Or, to be more specific, the frozen-in-the-lake horse heads after the fire of Whittier Park. It's strange, unsettling, and weirdly funny.
A "docu-fantasia" goodbye letter, My Winnipeg is a pseudo documentary where real facts about Winnipeg are intermingled with Guy Maddin's vision of his past, as the fictional Guy, played by Darcy Fehr, heads out of town. Dead dads under rugs, a Golden Boy pageant scandal, sleepwalkers, demolition, a strange and eerie mother played by Ann Savage -- all are present in My Winnipeg, and all of it is damned funny.
The film is now playing in theaters.
Check Out the Trailer for 'My Winnipeg'
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Independent », Trailers and Clips »
I've pretty much taken any opportunity I could get to praise Guy Maddin, and this is no exception. I've reviewed the film from TIFF. I've shared the exclusive poster. And now, you can check out the trailer for My Winnipeg above.
If you're a Maddin fan, a simple text description is enough to begin imagining what the filmmaker would create with his ode to the cold city of Winnipeg, but the trailer is still so very sweet. It offers quick blips to a lot of the film's most memorable moments -- from train rides, to Mom's knowledge of the back seat, to man pageants, to to the other wonders of snowy, sleepwalking Winnipeg. The only thing that's missing is Guy Maddin offering a live narration. If only we could bottle him up and let him out to perform the film whenever we'd want to see it.
Go see it. How can you resist the above? The film is schedule to hit theaters June 13.
Cinematical's Friday Night Double Feature: Big Screens and Booze
Filed under: Comedy », Home Entertainment », Friday Night Double Feature »
This weekend I get to cat sit the two cutest bengals on earth, but the perks of this gig are much more than sitting around, indulging in cable television, and playing with the furry little beasts. It also means I have a huge selection of liquor, wine and beer at my disposal to cook with and imbibe. So, while my mind is scheming up what sort of exotic drink I will make tonight, it's also thinking of alcohol-laden movies.
For this double feature, I'm giving you two of my favorite movies that are completely intertwined with the love of alcohol. One is quirky, but fairly straight-laced, while the other is just insanity, but in the immensely fun sort of way. I give you: Alexander Payne's Sideways and Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World. (If you're looking for even more choices, check out Christopher Campbell's Cinematical Seven from last December.)
EXCLUSIVE: 'My Winnipeg' Poster Premiere!
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Cinematical Indie », Posters »
Cinematical has just received this super-awesome poster for Guy Maddin's latest film and docu-fantasia, My Winnipeg (click on the image to enlarge). After sad music and branded brains, Guy was asked to make a doc about his hometown. Of course, for Maddin that meant a blending of documentary and fantasy. Grabbing Darcy Fehr, who also played "Guy Maddin" in Cowards Bend the Knee, and B-movie star Ann Savage (who plays his mother), Guy put his fictional self into his documentary and journeyed through a snowy world of strange public stories and even stranger private stories -- there's rug-straightening, Eatons issues, fires, hockey, and more.
My Winnipeg was one of my favorite films from TIFF last year, and I implore you to give it a chance. Guy Maddin knows how to find the humor in every situation, and present it in a way that is unique, stunning, enjoyable, and inspiring.
Unfortunately, I don't have a release date to share, although the film's website says that it will open at the IFC Center on June 13, as well as On Demand, before rolling out to more cities in the following weeks.
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