The Saddest Music in the World
Secrets, scandal, and a beer baroness with prosthetic glass legs full of beer. Don't miss the competition spectacular, The Saddest Music In The World!
Winnipeg, 1933 - the depths of the Great Depression. With prohibition waning, beer magnate Lady Helen Port-Huntley (Isabella Rossellini) announces a worldwide contest to determine which nation's music truly deserves to be called the saddest music in the world.
Musicians of all creed and colour descend on sleepy Winnipeg, but it is the Kent family - father Fyodor and brothers Chester and Roderick - who consume Lady Port-Huntley's interest. Long held family rivalries, amnesia, nymphomania, show-tunes and deceit run wild, leading to fiery consequences.
Even with a name cast and (relatively) straightforward narrative, Maddin excites by pushing the visual experience outside the realm of regular cinema, and showcases once again the skilful tightrope his films walk between the avant garde and mainstream art-house. An enormous critical and popular success, this hilarious romp marked Maddin's return to big budget filmmaking.
Screens with:
A Trip to the Orphanage Guy Maddin, 4 mins, Canada, 2004, B&W, Betacam SP, Source/Courtesy: Winnipeg Film Group
A sad song, a sleepwalker and a kiss on the cheek.
