Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight (1997)

Director:

Noam Gonick

Writers:

Noam Gonick (writer)
Caelum Vatnsdal (narration)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Narration | Independent Film

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Tom Waits	...	The Narrator (voice)
Pascale Bussières	...	Herself (actress)
Shelley Duvall	...	Herself (actress)
Frank Gorshin	...	Cain Ball (during production of Twilight of the Ice Nymphs)
Alice Krige	...	Herself (actress)
R.H. Thomson	...	Dr. Isaac Solti (during production of Twilight of the Ice Nymphs)
Paul Cox	...	Himself (director, actor)
Ian Handford	...	Himself (art director)
John Harvie	...	Himself (actor, collaborator) (as John Harvie LLB)
Greg Klymkiw	...	Himself (producer)
Herdis Maddin	...	Herself (mother)
John Paizs	...	Himself (filmmaker)
Geoff Pevere	...	Himself (critic)
Stephen Snyder	...	Himself (U. of Manitoba)
George Toles	...	Himself (U. of Manitoba)
Bill Sciak	...	Himself (barber) (as Bill 'the barber' Sciak)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Guy Maddin	...	Himself (filmmaker)

Directed by
Noam Gonick

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Noam Gonick		writer
Caelum Vatnsdal		narration

Produced by
Ritchard Findlay	....	executive producer
Laura Michalchyshyn	....	producer

Original Music by
Jeff Gillman

Cinematography by
Noam Gonick
Christie Léonard
Caelum Vatnsdal

Film Editing by
Bruce Little

Other crew
Greg Klymkiw	....	film clips provider
Robin Len	....	title designer
Guy Maddin	....	archive source
Guy Maddin	....	film clips provider
Herdis Maddin	....	archive source
John Paizs	....	archive source
Geoff Pevere	....	writer: additional narration

Thanks
Marnisa Gonick	....	thanks
Ian Handford	....	thanks
Guy Maddin	....	deep gratitude
Jilian Maddin	....	thanks (as Jillian Maddin)
Kyle McCulloch	....	thanks
Stephen Snyder	....	thanks (as Steve Snyder)
George Toles	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Marble Island Pictures
• Wait Inc.

Distributors

• Zeitgeist Films (1998) (USA) (all media)
• E.D. Distribution (1999) (France) (all media)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Marble Island Pictures

Movie Connections:

Features The Dead Father (1986)

A telling look into this guy...

Strange, avant-garde, weird, bizarre, surreal, disturbing... these words and more add up to describe a lot of Guy Maddin's work. The question is, however, what kind of person is Maddin himself? Well let's just put it this way: a lot like his movies.

This documentary, narrated perfectly by Tom Waits (he has just the disconnecting, growling voice needed, weirdly enough) explores Guy Maddin's life, friends, family, and how they all inspired different parts of what makes Guy Guy--from tales of his father leaving him alone with hockey players to wash and dry them, to anecdotes about slacking off and stalking girls.

What makes this film really compelling is the dry humour of most of the people involved. Guy was definitely surrounded by a lot of interesting (some could say strange, I think they're fascinating) people who all kind of added to the worlds that Guy creates in his films. The documentary itself is true to his vision, even while showing the man behind them.

It's difficult to really make a documentary like this interesting or even telling to a personality who is usually hidden behind a camera, but I applaud the filmmakers for pulling it off.

--PolarisDiB