My Winnipeg (2007)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Guy Maddin

Writers:

Guy Maddin (written by) and
George Toles (dialogue writer)

Release Date:

4 July 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

A personal portrait of filmmaker Guy Maddin's hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. |

Plot Keywords:

Hometown | Winnipeg | Experimental Film | Childhood | Narration

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Ann Savage	...	Mother
Louis Negin	...	Mayor Cornish
Amy Stewart	...	Janet Maddin
Darcy Fehr	...	Guy Maddin
Brendan Cade	...	Cameron Maddin
Wesley Cade	...	Ross Maddin
Lou Profeta	...	Himself
Fred Dunsmore	...	Himself
Kate Yacula	...	Citizen Girl
Jacelyn Lobay	...	Gwenyth Lloyd
Eric Nipp	...	Viscount Gort
Jennifer Palichuk	...	Althea Cornish
Deborah Carlson
Kevin Harris
Scott Hamel

Runtime:

Canada:80 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Canada:G (Québec) | Australia:M

Company:

Buffalo Gal Pictures

Soundtrack:

Siberian Suite

Maddin's dreamy travelogue/autobiography

If you're familiar with the films of Guy Maddin, then you know that this is not his first "autobiographical" film, but this actually COULD be closer to the "real thing" than "Cowards Bend The Knee" or "Brand Upon The Brain"....it's always rather hard to tell with him.

Beautiful Winnipeg...with snowy streets, lanes, and ugly hockey arenas, the old ones having been torn down. Sleepwalkers roam the streets with bundles of keys in their pockets, and it's the coldest city in the world. There have been many tragedies there over the years and many landmarks have fallen to the wrecking ball in favor of more modern yet less desired venues. Particularly of note is the old Eatons building that was razed to build an arena that stands mostly empty.

Maddin has attempted to re-create his childhood home, in the very same building, although the woman who sublet the building refuses to leave. His mother is recruited to play his mother, and he hires actors to play his brothers and sisters, and certain scenes from his life are played out for the camera. He claims to have grown up with the smell of hair spray and lotions and such for old people, as his mother owned a salon. His mother has also insisted that his father be there too so they pretend that they've exhumed his body and re-buried him in the living room. She appears satisfied by that.

We're treated to many moments in Winnipeg's rich history, including a fire that drove the horses at the local race track stables out into the cold & into the river. We see people wandering cheerfully & spooning among the frozen and anguished horse heads protruding from the Red River. Egad.

This seems like somewhat of a dreamy travelogue, and part autobiography, and part love-letter to a city that holds him all the while he seems to want to distance himself from it, but can't. It's full of the usual bizarre humor and yet there seems to be more of a personal note to it than some of his previous films, although with Maddin it's rather hard to tell how to take what he puts out there. While I did enjoy "Brand Upon The Brain", "My Winnipeg" seems far more accessible yet still a bit "out there" for most film fans.

I loved it. 9 out of 10.