Guy Maddin is a film critic's filmmaker. So when I had a chance to see Maddin (right) speak in person, I couldn't pass that up, even when his visit to Chicago came in the middle of the Windsor International Film Festival.
Art film fans would certainly recognize his work in "The Saddest Music in the World" along with "My Winnipeg" and perhaps "Keyhole."
His films are very dreamy but in real life, he's very self-referential and very funny.
-
'Monsieur Lazhar,' 'Keyhole': Canadian films hitting American cities
-
This fall's Canadian film crop: will they come to the United States? (2011)
-
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Here are a few highlights from the discussion:
- Maddin's filmmaking voice is so unique, comparing himself in uniqueness to the singing voice of another Canadian icon, Neil Young. He spoke of strange dreams he had after his father died, and how he wanted to recreate that narcotic feeling in his films. Another early influence was growing up (born 1956) with limited television, where TV stations didn't go on until noon or receiving ghost images from nearby Grand Forks, ND. Another analogy involved a "basement band" approach to filmmaking: turn up the volume and see what will come out.
- His career is also filled with short films such as "Bing and Bela." Bing Crosby and Bela Lugosi are buried next to each other in real life. The short film poses the question for a mourner as to which celebrity will she mourn.
- "Bing and Bela" was one of a few films to help open the Bell Lightbox in Toronto in 2010. Maddin spoke of other short films done at the request of the Toronto International Film Festival. Whatever one might think of Maddin's filmmaking approach, his style is better appreciated in a short film.
- Maddin spoke a lot about lost films, trying to recreate obscure long ago films. One example was a film about baths where side-by-side a married woman and a spinster woman were taking baths. Another lost film he talked about was channeling Mark Twain while watching the 1974 Miss Nude Pageant. You figure that filmmakers have an appreciation for the history of filmmaking, but Maddin takes this up a few levels.
- Maddin describes his early adult life as a house painter and a bank teller before going into filmmaking. He got a woman pregnant and married her even though he hadn't had a girlfriend; he saw David Lynch's "Eraserhead" as somewhat relevant to his own life. While his baby wasn't an alien, your life has to be pretty bad for Eraserhead to be a remote role model.
I asked Maddin after the discussion about the advantages to being a filmmaker in Winnipeg. He said that being a small city and cold that there isn't much to do but work.
The Canadian film scene is mostly concentrated in Ontario and Quebec with pockets in British Columbia. You occasionally find a film out of the Maritimes such as All The Wrong Reasons with Cory Montieth (New Brunswick) and Hold Fast (Newfoundland).
Other than Maddin, the best-known example in the Prairies is Brent Butt and "Corner Gas" and that's TV, not film. Maddin did mention that Winnipeg had a film scene; definitely worth looking into further.
The few films I get to see from Canada is a combination of film festivals and one-shot deals. And there is an Ontario/Quebec bias toward those films. Guy Maddin has proven that good films can come out of the middle part of Canada.
photo credit: me
Comments