Synopsis
Maddin’s first adapted screenplay is based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. With the help of his inseparable colleague Georges Toles he relocates it, of course, in Winnipeg, during the Great Depression. To help raise beer sales, Baroness Helen Port-Huntley (played by a gorgeous Isabella Rosselllini), organizes a competition for the saddest song in the world, without suspecting that she would be reencountering her former lovers, Fyodor and Chester Kent, father and son respectively, the protagonists of an accident that left her without legs. These two, along with the other prodigal son of the family, seek to win the favour of the Baroness and the succulent prize. Between melodrama and musical noir, The Saddest Music in the World is the film with the most shots per second in Maddin’s entire filmography. A peak only matched by the height of those perfect glass legs filled with beer, undoubtedly one of the director’s most striking images.
Filmmaker
Guy Maddin
(Winnipeg, 1956) He studied economics at the University of Winnipeg. Maddin is an installation artist, screenwriter, cinematographer and filmmaker. He has also mounted numerous live performance versions of his films around the world, featuring live music, sound effects, singing and narration. Since 2011 he has collaborated with Galen Johnson and Evan Johnson under the banner of Development Ltd., their Winnipeg-based filmmaking collective.
Filmography: The Green Fog (2017), Accidence (2017), Seances (2016), Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton (2015, D'A 2016), The Forbidden Room (2015, D'A 2015) Keyhole (2011), My Winnipeg (2007, D'A 2011), Brand Upon the Brain! (2006, D'A 2011), The Saddest Music in the World (2003, D'A 2011), Dracula, Pages From a Virgin's Diary (2002, D'A 2011), Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997, D'A 2011), Archangel (1990, D'A 2011)
