Saturday, May 8, 1:30 PM, Charles Theatre 5

Director: Guy Maddin

Cast: Kyle McCulloch, Kathy Marykuca, Ari Cohen, Victor Cowie, Sarah Neville

Country: Canada
Year: 1990
Running Time: 83 minutes
Format: 35mm

Set during World War 1, this love-triangle follows Canadian soldier, John Boles, who is sent to the arctic Russian outpost of Archangel to assist in battling Bolshevik revolutionaries. Though missing his home, his deceased fiancee, and his right leg, Boles must contend with not only the horrors of war, but obsessive amnesia war victims as well. Among them is Veronkha, a double for Boles lost love, who has forgotten she is married to Philbin, an injured vet also suffering from amnesia.

This is a quintessential example of Guy Maddins’ filmmaking. Looking like it was filmed in the 1930’s, Maddin incorporates scratchy, grainy black and white film with influences of German Expressionism, old horror films, and silent film acting into this melodramatic deadpan parody. Gorgeous cinematography, sets, and sound design round out the overall package. The result is a surreal masterpiece that is right at home among the films of filmmakers like David Lynch and Czech animator Jan Svankmajer.

Don’t miss Guy Maddin’s latest feature, The Saddest Music In The World, showing elsewhere in this festival.

-- Skizz Cyzyk