In 1933, with the world in economic crisis, Chester Kent returns to his native Winnipeg accompanied by his beloved Narcissa. They arrive just as Lady Port-Huntley announces a contest to discover the saddest music in the world, with prize money totalling $25,000. Chester knew the Lady, the local beer queen, in bygone days and their story, full of passion and envy is about to continue. . . .
This surrealistic tragicomedy with touches of fairytale plays out in the golden age of cinematography, and sweeps the viewer off to a world of love, sorrow, loss and vain hopes. The year is 1933 and the world is in a deep economic crisis. Onetime Broadway impresario Chester Kent arrives in his home town of Winnipeg with his girlfriend Narcissa. Here he encounters people who used to be a big part of his life and finds out about a curious competition to find the saddest music in the world, announced by the beautiful and wealthy brewery owner, Lady Port-Huntly. She and Chester were once very close, and meeting him again after so many years opens old wounds, associated with unresolved guilt. This story full of passion, love and hatred, however, is far from finished… The role of Lady Port-Huntly is played by the Isabella Rossellini, known from the films The Innocent, Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her and Wild at Heart. Narcissa is played by the Maria de Medeiros, who appeared in the films Henry and June or Pulp Fiction.
99 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Guy Maddin
/ Screenplay Guy Maddin, George Toles podle románu / based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
/ Dir. of Photography Luc Montpellier
/ Music Christopher Dedrick
/ Editor David Wharnsby
/ Producer Niv Fichman, Jody Shapiro
/ Production Rhombus Media, koprodukce / co-production: Buffalo Gal Pictures, Ego Film Arts
/ Cast Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, Maria de Medeiros, David Fox, Ross McMillan
/ Contact Rhombus International Inc.
Guy Maddin (b. 1956, Winnipeg), director and screenwriter, shot his first feature, Tales from the Gimli Hospital, in 1988. His creative scope, however, is very wide indeed, and in addition to feature dramas he has shot TV movies, shorts, horror-laced dance productions, rock and opera videos, and a number of cinematographic experiments. Other films include: Archangel (1990, Best Experimental Film from the National Society of Film Critics, USA), Careful (1992), The Heart of the World (2000, multi-award-winning short), the television ballet Dracula: Pages from a Virgin´s Diary (2002, International Emmy), and Crowds Bend the Knee (2003, FIPRESCI Prize at Rotterdam). Maddin often focuses on emotionally-charged themes: love and envy - and everything in between.
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