With his latest work, MY WINNIPEG, iconoclastic filmmaker Guy Maddin continues in the freewheeling, genre-bending tradition that has made him one of Canada's most consistently intriguing and internationally respected artists. MY WINNIPEG is a documentary (or docu-fantasia, as he describes it) about his hometown. Equal parts mystical rumination and personal history, city chronicle and deranged post-Freudian proletarian fantasy, MY WINNIPEG - which is framed as a goodbye letter - blends local myth with childhood trauma. A deliriously layered provocation, MY WINNIPEG is outrageous, informative and wildly entertaining.
B**H
Tour Winnipeg by way of Sleepwalking
Guy Maddin wrote liner notes for a micro budget Canadian film 'Father's day'(a tone perfect modern mock-exploitation flick) by renegade filmmaking stable Astron-6. Guy Maddin was unfamiliar to me then, and after stepping inside of his fever dream 'My Winnipeg', he still is. But I now feel an affection for this man and his inspiring work.'My Winnipeg' is a delirious escape to and through the time-fog of Guy Maddin's idea of home and his town, Winnipeg. The director unreliably(maybe?) regales us with stories over an amalgamation of reenacted memories, local lores and a personal history tour. The tone drifts into the murky waters of David Lynch, ambles about in Gonzo fragments of absurdity, and smiles with Canadian joviality through a consistent double-exposure Manitoban snow front.Criterions Bluray release looks timeless. Beautifully composed in black and white, the stormy grey pallete organically blends with the mysterious material and hypnotizes the viewer. Images of winter, hockey, transformation, and destruction delight the eyes.I suggest 'My Winnipeg' to anybody who appreciates seeing original ideas. Allow yourself to be captivated and explore something new.
C**D
For sentimental people and for film students.
A film studies professor recommended I watch this, but what ended up intriguing me more than the techniques Maddin employed (which are very interesting) was the story of a sentimentally beloved place beaten and destroyed, and the parallel need to escape the ruins against the wishes of ghosts and memories.It reminded me of my dad's stories of his own flight from the dying GM factory town of Pontiac, MI.Enthralling, too, was the narrative of the manipulating, all-seeing, awesome-guilt-inspiring matriarch. It started me to thinking long and hard about family dynamics and parents' duties.
T**.
Good movie
I love this movie
S**E
I believe it.
I totally believe everything he told me about Winnipeg. I believe the snow, the sleepiness, the ectoplasm, the lost and benumbed waspiness of it, the wackadoodle mom, the, yeah, I buy it. I still don't want to go there but it's nice that it's dear to someone.
G**G
This is a film that's worth many repeated viewings over the years...
I had watched this film three times before I finally decided that I needed to own the physical copy, and Criterion Collection - as always - has done an excellent job in bringing this movie to disc .
S**S
Four Stars
Very inventive and enjoyable Documentary.
K**Y
Never estimate the creativity of a Winnipeg filmmaker
I like his tongue-in-cheek method of storytelling so that you are not sure what is real and what isn't. You just have to sit back and trust the author/director and appreciate his creativity. Even though the characters and the storyline are off-beat, I could definitely relate to much of it - like the 3 kids trying to get their mother out of bed to make one last dinner of meatloaf.
L**E
Five Stars
Such a great film. We watch it every winter.
S**E
Sleep-walking Through a Biographical Fantasia...
This is a remarkable film. So utterly unique and captivating, I find it astonishing that some reviews have damned it so! There is humour, warmth and whimsy throughout, alongside a more understated sense of unease. I adore the use of 'trying to stay awake/trying not to sleep' as a metaphor for the ties that bind within your hometown. The inter-cutting of contemporary footage with archival material is artfully done and adds to the atmosphere with considerable effect. At 80 minutes, this film has a breezy running time which should therefore make its experimental structure and coda far more accessible.Treat yourself to a walk on the cinematic Wild Side folks...
N**M
Poetry in motion
We'll packaged and arrived on time. This film is like watching a poem. Beautifully artistic.
B**T
Four Stars
enjoyable cinematic experience
M**B
mystical
I recommend this movie completely- sleepwalking Winnipeg, always winter, always snowing. Guy Maddin tries to film his way out. We get to watch him try. Like nothing you've ever seen. Beautiful rewards with each viewing. Surrender.
E**I
pretenzioso, velleitario, noioso. Peccato perchè le suggestioni, nelle premesse, c'erano tutte
Un documentario che promette bene perche sembra trattare con mezzi e linguaggi originali il genere e il tema (un viaggio nella natura intima e nella storia di una citta di provincia americana, vissuta attraverso i ricordi del regista e di personaggi reali e immaginari della sua vita e del suo ambiente). Eppure alla lunga stanca, troppo sperimentale e troppo involuto, criptico, autoreferenziale. Lo stile stesso denuncia una scarsa attenzione al pubblico, che rischia veramente di perdersi e perdere interesse. In fondo anche il linguaggio e lo stile contano: sono il mezzo per comunicare con qualcuno, e obbligano il mittente a tradurre in modo originale ma comprensibile il proprio mondo e il proprio punto di vista, sennò diventa una sorta di lunga videoinstallazione, che vale se dura pochi minutiil dvd è in originale senza sottotitoli
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