What’s the deal with the “silent film” schtick? I’ve only seen a few short films and Careful, so maybe that isn’t all he does, but why? Some of his shorts I’ve seen were quite interesting, but felt restrained by the set of rules he chooses to play by.
Does anybody “get” his films enough to explain them to me?
Here’s a review of one of Maddin’s short films by the Chicago Reader’s own Jonathon Rosenbaum, who calls it a masterpiece.
See, that’s what I’m talking about; I’ve seen Heart of the World, it’s currently playing in the “short films” timeslot on the Sundance Channel, I enjoyed it in a way (it was certainly unique), but I didn’t really “get” it. Careful, the only feature of his I’ve seen was slightly more accessible- it was obviously about a kind of rural repression, “what will the neighbors think” mindset, but overall his work seems intentionally limited. Kind of like a very talented one-trick-pony, his films seem artistically “restrained” in a way- like if a truly talented stand up comic insisted on doing prop comedy a-la Carrot top.