The Saddest Music in the World (2003)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Guy Maddin

Writers:

Kazuo Ishiguro (original screenplay)
George Toles (written by) ...

Release Date:

1 September 2005 (Greece)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Music | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

"If you're sad, and like beer, I'm your lady."

Plot:

A sort-of musical set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, where a beer baroness organizes a contest to find the saddest music in the world. Musicians from around the world descend on the city to try and win first place - a $25,000 prize.

Plot Keywords:

Winnipeg | Beer | Musician | Car Accident | 1930s

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Mark McKinney	...	Chester Kent
Isabella Rossellini	...	Lady Helen Port-Huntley
Maria de Medeiros	...	Narcissa
David Fox	...	Fyodor Kent
Ross McMillan	...	Roderick Kent / Gravillo the Great
Louis Negin	...	Blind Seer
Darcy Fehr	...	Teddy
Claude Dorge	...	Duncan Elksworth
Talia Pura	...	Mary
Jeff Sutton	...	Young Chester
Graeme Valentin	...	Young Roderick
Maggie Nagle	...	Chester's Mother
Victor Cowie	...	Man in Bar
Jessica Burleson	...	Lady's Secretary
Wayne Nicklas	...	Boardmember

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and violent images.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIB | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Canada:PG | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Manitoba Production Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Rhombus Media

Trivia:

Matthew J. Kok played an "Orphan Boy" in scenes which were deleted.

Quotes:

Lady Port-Huntley: If you are sad and like beer, I'm your lady.

Movie Connections:

References Footlight Parade (1933)

Soundtrack:

The Red Maple Leaves - Salon Version

How the world ignores sadness

--Minor Spoilers Ahead-- The Saddest Music in the World plays out more like a short story than a film. It presents two opposed views of looking at loss. One view, espoused by the Chester Kent character, is oblivious of the past, and of the grief that is there. His songs are raucous renderings. His brother, Roderick Kent (aka Gravillo the Great) spends his entire time wallowing in the admittedly horrible past of the death of his son and his wife's abandonment. Both brothers lie about their nationality and are heralded falsely as representative of their assumed countries. Both are, in a word, fakers. Both exaggerate their characteristics they feel represent them, and all the other characters in the film are forced to take sides. However, neither of the brothers is realistic in their extremity, and thusly the script feels more like a parable than a film. However, in a world focused on the consolidation and amalgamation of culture, this film is all the more intriguing for how immensely it avoids cultural integration in favor of assimilation. Questions of assimilation to a country or ideals are seemingly posed openly, in a manner that is not often found in the 'integrationist' model of the western world. When asked of the film, Ishiguro said that he intended the story he wrote to speak of the plight of displaced and ravaged persons of the world needing to continually, more deeply, horrify the world with their struggles. For instance, having Darfurians create a sadder music than Rwandans. Arundhati Roy struck a similar chord when she said, "Inhabitants standing in the remnants of their flooded villages, protesting big dams, no longer make the news. The public is tired of seeing that one." And after the first act, where the film hints at the deeper issues, it abandons them to concentrate on the dramatic arc of the two main characters, at times admirably. Indeed, textually, it is admirable for its ambition. Few films in recent times have asked these sorts of questions so brazenly about how one deals with the past, and how grief is displayed (or portrayed) to a person or an audience. Even there though, the film is more ponderous than moving, more literary than cinematic and more intriguing than stunning.