neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Saddest Music In The World
	Guy Maddin Isabella Rossellini, Mark McKinney, Maria de Medeiros, Ross McMillan, David Fox 2003		A black comedy with visual and thematic echoes of Depression-era movies, "The Saddest Music in the World" is a circus sideshow done in surreal style. It won't appeal to all tastes, but its eye-catching, retro look is a match for its mix of freakish and desperate performers, social critique and oddly seductive musical sequences. Astonishing to behold, it's like a rediscovered film from a 1930s of the mind — an epoch imagined, rather than one that happened. It's probably no coincidence that Isabella Rossellini, femme fatale in David Lynch's disturbing "Blue Velvet," plays a major role here. She's Lady Port-Huntley — a glamorous beer baroness/double amputee with glass prosthetic legs — who finances and judges a competition to find the saddest music in the world. Held in snowy Winnipeg, Canada, the contest draws musicians from across the globe, including devious impresario Chester Kent (Mark McKinney of "The Kids in the Hall") and his demented father (David Fox). The men share a sordid past with Lady Port-Huntley; consequences still reverberate. Matters get more complicated when Chester's troubled brother Roderick (Ross McMillan) appears and spots Chester's ethereal companion Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros), the image of Roderick's vanished wife. Guy Maddin, the feature's director/co-screenwriter, is a weird, wild talent and bears watching.