Notable DVDs
Aug 7th, 2008 | By Rick | Category: On DVD
Crazed Canadian (I know … sounds like an oxymoron) filmmaker Guy Maddin’s equally crazed, live-orchestra film Brand Upon the Brain! will be released August 12 by Criterion, of all companies. Filmed with Maddin’s usual silent aesthetic, it traveled to major cities complete with it’s own live orchestra, choir and narrators. At one point, there was a boy’s choir; it was replaced by a castrato (!). The DVD has seven different soundtracks to choose from: three from the studio and four from the film’s national tour. Narrators include Laurie Anderson, Crispin Glover and, in two instances, Maddin’s favorite, Isabella Rossellini. Maddin is an acquired taste, but a sweet one if you’re in the right mood. If you’ve seen other Maddins (my favorite is The Saddest Music in the World with Rossellini) or you just feel like a walk on the wild side, you might want to check this one out.
Dark City, Alex Proyas’ dystopian science fiction opus, was not a hit with critics when it opened in 1998. Thanks in part to Roger Ebert’s championing of the film (he called it his favorite of 1998), it received a pretty good DVD release, and built up a cult following. Personally, I like it a lot: it’s an imaginative, engrossing exercise in genre film making. Now, director Proyas has recut the film, adding eleven minutes to its running length, and slapped the name “Director’s Cut” on it. Among the extras are five commentary tracks (two by Ebert alone) as well as assorted making-of features. It’s available in DVD and Blu-Ray from New Line.
Also from Criterion, Trafic (1971) is director Jaques Tati’s penultimate film, and the last with his iconic character Monsieur Hulot. After the monumental Playtime ruined him financially, Tati could find backing to direct another feature only if it starred the beloved Hulot. This time, Hulot takes to the roads of France as director of design for an auto company, with results that are predictable to anyone familiar with his other three films. Hulot has been often compared to Charlie Chaplin’s little tramp; like Chaplin, his humor resides in quiet set ups that blossom into sight gags of enormous creativity. Although I haven’t seen Trafic, if I were to make a top ten list, Playtime would be a strong candidate. Tati made one other film after this one, the quasi-documentary Parade.
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Trafic, yeah!
I love that film. What a vision Tati had. So sweet, so smart, so touching. When I rented Trafic recently I watched it one and half times. It’s just absorbing… like all of his films.
As for Playtime, there are sequences in it that reveal different layers everytime I see it. It’s so gorgeously designed and economically executed… and all by a man that plays the character of a naive, bumbling fool!
As for Maddin, I’ve never seen one of his films, but I am anxious to start with Brand Upon The Brain. From friends, he seems to be a polarizing artist. We shall see where I fall in. Have you seen anything else of his besides The Saddest Music…?? And if so, what did you think?
I’m looking forward to seeing Trafic myself. Tati is fabulous, all right
As far as Maddin is concerned, I’ve seen “Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary,” his film of the Winnipeg Ballet’s production of Dracula and “Careful,” the story of the incestuous residents of an alpine village who must remain quiet, since any loud sound might cause an avalanche. I enjoyed both, but “Careful” more. “Dracula” is a definitely for lovers of Ballet and Maddin.
I’ve also seen a couple of his shorts, which are flat out hilarious (they’re both on “The Saddest Music” DVD): “Sissy-boy Slap Party” (about what you’d expect) and “Sombra Dolorosa”, a cracked Mexican fable about a woman’s fight with Death.
Maddin is not for everyone. All his movies are hard to describe. Check some of them out and let me know.
I’m always intrigued when I read about Guy Maddin’s films, but can’t ever quite get around to watching them. (I passed up an opportunity to see “My Winnipeg” on my recent flight to China, and “The Saddest Muisic in the World” has been languishing in my DVR queue for a couple of months.) “Brand Upon the Brain” sounds equally intriguing - and just plain weird - to me. Maybe this is the one I’ll break down and acutally watch.
Pat, they are weird. I think marvelously weird, but your mileage may vary. Perhaps starting with “Saddest Music” which, of the ones I’ve seen, is the most accessible.
Like I said, he’s not for everyone, but then, what that’s any good is?
I wish I had more to say but all I can think when I look at the Brand upon the Brain picture is “Hey it’s the Lombardi Trophy!”
At first glance I honestly figured this was going to be a post about football.
It’s all part of Maddin’s secret, twisted plan to bring American-style football to Winnipeg, thus corrupting the youth of that staunchly Canadian city. And I don’t know enough about football to post about it.