My Winnipeg (2007)
Canada 80m, B&W
Director: Guy Maddin; Cast: Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage, Amy Stewart, Brendan Cade, Wesley Cade, Louis Negin
My Winnipeg is a highly original and deeply personal expressionist pseudo-documentary about Guy Maddin’s connection to Winnipeg – his home town. It is a film which immediately brings to memory Graeme Patterson’s, “Woodrow” – a sculptural installation combining scale models of iconic buildings with animatronics and video-animation of Woodrow Saskatchewan. Both Maddin’s film and Patterson’s sculpture are a mélange of history, nostalgia, architecture and an examination of sense of place. Part fantasy, part fact, My Winnipeg is Madden’s fascinating personal critique of his hometown – created as Frankenstein’s monster from the combination of unusual childhood memories and strange “historical” stories. As with his other films, My Winnipeg has a dreamlike quality, filled with evocative, powerful, playful and unforgettable images (Klaus Ming November 2010).
8 comments on “My Winnipeg (2007)”
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How this movie did NOT make the 1001 list is beyond me – something which needs to be redressed in a subsequent edition of the book.
Have you seen my new review Raoul Ruiz’s ‘Three Crowns of the Sailor’? He’s another director you really should check out — esoteric and out there, and really original. I’d recommend Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting (1979) — remember, two words when you watch his work: “sheer artifice”. He’s really bizarre.
Klimt (2006) is the only Ruiz film that i’m familiar with, but am planning to watch more. After reading about the premise, I’ll definitely add Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting to my must see list – thanks.
Klimt isn’t supposed to be one of his better films (I haven’t seen it yet) — I suspect the only reason it was released in DVD in the US was because the main role was played by John Malkovich….
I watched Klimt last night – it is a very interesting and challenging movie to say the least. A review in a day or so…
and worth a mention: Ann Savage, of Detour fame, plays the mother.
Is Detour worth watching?
I haven’t watched it yet, but it’s on the 1001 list.