ametaphysicalshark It's so hard to write about a Guy Maddin film. What exactly do I describe, what do I say about the film? His films defy convention in every way imaginable. I can guarantee that there is no film out there that's even especially similar to "My Winnipeg" in style or content, even if Maddin's current style is essentially a pastiche of a particular sort of silent film, there are none that are edited in the same way or used to quite the same effect as Maddin's films are. At least none that I have seen, as Maddin is not imitating anyone, but making films in a style that is not used anymore, and had he been making films in the 1920's he might have been considered an innovator. "My Winnipeg" is a film I wish I was clever enough to make about any of the cities I've lived in and fallen in love with, and is original enough to captivating, but is also astonishingly clever and witty and funny and entertaining.I was actually not a big fan of Maddin's last film, "Brand Upon the Brain!", a pleasant enough film but ultimately of no real worth or substance, merely a visually interesting retread of themes Maddin fans are familiar with. It was certainly a far cry from some of his better work- "Archangel" and "Careful" being my favorites. Maddin is certainly one of my favorite Canadian directors, and one of our few genuine auteurs whose work is actually accessible and available relatively easily, but there's always been an issue with his films, even his better work, the issue being that his films often feel rather insubstantial. Like the bizarre and amusing experiments of an eccentric than anything of real value (although obviously that is debatable). I always enjoy a Guy Maddin film, but I think "My Winnipeg" is the first of his which struck me as truly passionate or exceptional with regard to its content."My Winnipeg" tells you everything you need to know about it in the title. This is Guy Maddin's love/hate letter to his home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and it's really about HIS Winnipeg, and it's the sort of personal thing that could have so easily been a bore, but Guy Maddin is so interesting that his own perception of Winnipeg is enough to sustain this 80 minute film. It flies by, leaving the viewer in an appreciative daze by the end, appreciative of the remarkable sense of humor in the film, the wit, the cleverness of the narrative, and a real sense of Maddin's love and passion for Winnipeg. This film has everything that is appealing about Maddin's work as well as a new richness that he'd never quite found before. It's an oddly inspiring film, gorgeous to look at and rather unexpectedly the funniest film I've seen from 2008 as well.

BandofInsiders In My Winnipeg Guy Maddin takes up the task of vicariously reliving his childhood though making a movie re-creating his childhood. Maddin's pseudo documentary is constantly unpredictable film about a constantly predictable city. Maddin's unconventional travelogue absurdly examines the local history and folklore of Winnipeg while investigating Maddin's personal choice to never leave this sleepy snow drenched city.Maddin decides to begin the process of documenting his time spent in Winnipeg by subletting his childhood home and hiring a group of actors to play the roles of his family members. Ann Savage takes on the role of Maddin's mother and the wheels begin turning on our Freudian nightmare. Winnipeg has the same strange magnetic pull on Maddin as his mother does and he intends to find out why. Maddin leaves no stone unturned and investigates multiple aspects of life in Winnipeg no matter how strange or preposterous. In his quest to find himself and find what lies at the heart of "his" city Maddin paints a portrait of Winnipeg that is at one point full of contempt for his hometown and at another filled with enchantment for it. An aspect of this film that makes it so interesting is the fact that Maddin decision to not change his longtime visual style actually works out for him even while working in a new "genre" for him. I use the word "genre" loosely. The characters and local oddities we encounter are constantly alluring and intriguing. While at times it may be confusing why Maddin decides to set his camera on certain subjects by the end of the film everything fits into place. At its best My Winnipeg is an oddly heartfelt tribute to a city that has burdened yet inspired Maddin for his entire life. At the least My Winnipeg is a testament to Maddin as a producer who by some miracle convinced the Documentary Channel to fully commission a film so unique and so unmarketable.

MacAindrais My Winnipeg (2008) ****Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Winnipeg. Everything in Winnipeg is a euphemism. Sleep walkers hold the keys to their old homes! By law! Nazi Fascists invaded Winnipeg! The coldest city in the world! Home of the Ultravixens! Forks and the Forks under the Forks, and the horsehead picnic tables! Hermaphrodite streets - half front street, half back lane! Masons, ghosts, spirits and sad buildings! Citizen Girl! Yes, you can find these things in Winnipeg, Winnipeg, wonderful Winnipeg!If you've ever seen a film like My Winnipeg before, it was likely only in your dreams, or the dreams of the mad poet of Winnipeg, Guy Maddin. Maddin's love of the silent film era has shaped his own visual style, shot usually on old grainy film stock, appearing as it his films were perhaps well preserved 1920s avant garde. He's built a career on making films so outrageously insane by modern film-making standards. His films are usually either bizarre horrors or totally unique comedies, or both. My Winnipeg is a film of sinisterly off the wall humor, conveyed through Guy Maddin's narration (played by Darcy Fehr). One gem: "My father died, with nothing left to do, he died. I'd like to say he spontaneously combusted on the ice at the area, that would have been great."The narration often doubles back on itself, repeating itself in different forms, or entirely contradicting itself in single sentences. All the while the images (usually grainy black and white, but also occasionally in color or animation) are punctuated with flash cards, usually in single or short phrases (Tragedy! Dead Man walking! Dance of the Hairless Boners, Naked! Hairless! Dance! Swollen Pride! Why?!) They flash only for a fraction of a sentence, making them difficult to read.I guess if My Winnipeg could be placed in a genre, they would have to call it a slapstick documentary. Maddin uses archive footage mixed with Maddin's own. The central thesis of the film is Maddin's memories and the city's as well. To begin, he rides a train, sleeping, while it rolls around the Winnipeg streets, seemingly unable to ever leave town. To come to terms with his inability to ever leave the city. He rents his old home for a month, to recreate his childhood memories. He recruits actors to play his siblings, and takes his mother (Ann Savage) to the home, then recreates memories and incidents from childhood. Maddin always seems to have a fascination with mothers, his mother. Elsewhere, he details the Masonic undercurrents of the city, the occult, man pageants, Nazi takeovers, and the rape of the city's beloved Winnipeg Jets by that corrupt National Hockey League!So, the question that many ask then, "is it true?" Being Canadian, I know some things are true, some things are not. Would you want to really know the answer anyway? Its law that everyone gets to keep the keys to their old homes. Why? Because the town has the highest sleepwalking rate in the world! They leave their homes and wander to their old houses in the dark, in the cold, in the snow! You must let them in until they wake! Is that true? I don't care to know. If I knew then I would have to have come back to reality. Unless of course Maddin's Winnipeg is reality. In which case, Winnipeg! Wonderful Winnipeg!

rschmeec Ah, Guy Maddin, how I love your combination of voice-over, quickly changing shots that seem to perfectly match the voice-over, a tone that mixes nostalgia and subtle disgust, the history of your hometown and your own at the same time, seeming to tell all, while really telling more than all.Are we really expected to believe that bit about the horses escaping from a fire? I don't really care. In this case fiction, if not stranger, is certainly more fun than whatever the truth.I saw this recently at the 2008 Seattle Film Festival, along with sixty or seventy other films, and the only other one that kept me so continually spellbound was Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues.If you are already a lover of Guy Maddin, you do not need my recommendation. If you are not yet familiar with his unique genius, My Winnipeg is a good place to begin a discovery.