An amnesiac soldier, seeking his lost love, arrives in Archangel in northern Russia to help the townsfolk in their fight against the Bolsheviks, all quite unaware that the Great War ended three months ago.
In the Alpine village of Tolzbad in the 1800s, the townsfolk talk quietly and restrain their movements lest they incur avalanches. This atmosphere lends itself to repressed emotions - shown... See full summary »
Director:
Guy Maddin
Stars:
Kyle McCulloch,
Gosia Dobrowolska,
Sarah Neville
Peter Glahn is released after years of incarceration as a political prisoner and is now returning to his homeland, the mythical Mandragora where the sun never sets. On board the ship home, ... See full summary »
Director:
Guy Maddin
Stars:
Pascale Bussières,
Shelley Duvall,
Frank Gorshin
A musical of sorts 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 the $25,000 prize.
Director:
Guy Maddin
Stars:
Isabella Rossellini,
Mark McKinney,
Maria de Medeiros
It's time for hockey! There's no telling what will happen when the Winnipeg Maroons' own star player Guy becomes embroiled in the twisted lives of Meta, a vengeful Chinoise, and her ... See full summary »
Returned home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.
While their mother is dying in the modern Gimli, Manitoba hospital, two young children are told a tale by their Icelandic grandmother about Einar the Lonely, his friend Gunnar, and the ... See full summary »
Director:
Guy Maddin
Stars:
Kyle McCulloch,
Michael Gottli,
Angela Heck
After being thrown out of her house, Maria encounters a married woman who complains of not having children. Maria ends up in an abandoned house, where she meets Matthew. When a baby is kidnapped Maria sets out to find the woman.
Director:
Hal Hartley
Stars:
Adrienne Shelly,
Martin Donovan,
Rebecca Nelson
Lt. John Boles, a one-legged soldier, is assisting the White Russians in the Russian Arctic during World War I. He finds himself in Archangel, a crystalline city of spires and domes, inhabited by some very confused people. Boles loves Iris, who is dead, and meets Veronkha, whom he mistakes for Iris. But Veronkha is already married to Philbin, who forgets he is married to Veronkha. Veronkha thinks Boles is Philbin...Written by
L.H. Wong <lhw@sfs.org.sg>
In the original script, Boles' false leg was lost before he arrives at the cottage in Archangel, and the leg was to be replaced by a harpoon. The harpoon would then be thrown at the life-size statue of the Holy Virgin (outside the cottage), piercing its eye. None of this made it into the final film, though the large "One-Eyed Virgin" statue does appear. See more »
This wierd, dreamlike film goes a long way on a limited budget, creating a completely unreal experience about a real historical event in Archangel, Russia during the Russian revolution.
Like all of Maddin's other films, Boles is and anti-hero, his subversive obsession with Veronika could not be interpreted as love or heroic, a brillliant deconstruction of your average war movie.
The ending is a bit disappointing (out of the brooding character with the rest of the film) but in all a great film.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
This wierd, dreamlike film goes a long way on a limited budget, creating a completely unreal experience about a real historical event in Archangel, Russia during the Russian revolution.
Like all of Maddin's other films, Boles is and anti-hero, his subversive obsession with Veronika could not be interpreted as love or heroic, a brillliant deconstruction of your average war movie.
The ending is a bit disappointing (out of the brooding character with the rest of the film) but in all a great film.