Keyhole
Directed By: Guy
Maddin
Written By:
George Toles and Guy Maddin
Starring: Jason
Patric, Isabella Rossellini, Udo Kier, Brooke Palsson, and David Wontner
Director of Photography: Benjamin Kasulke, Editor: John
Gurdebeke, Production Designer: Ricardo Alms, Original Music: Jason Staczek
The
world of Guy Maddin, a director who defies pigeonholing in every frame, has
never been one to create a world even close to logic. His films exist in a
bizarre universe that pulls together his personal memories, the silent and
B-movies he grew up with, and subtext often sublimating to the foreground,
which often discards the primal text in doing so. What are we left with? It’s
often hard to describe what exactly he’s doing (you can watch a number of his
shorts on YouTube), but if the word “auteur” still has meaning in film, Maddin
is certainly exemplary of it.
His
latest film, Keyhole, may, somehow,
be the strangest yet, or at least the one that made me feel the most
uncomfortable. Gone is the sense of wonder and nostalgia that pieced together
films like The Saddest Music in the World
and My Winnipeg. Keyhole, whatever it exactly is, seems
driven by paranoia and fear, both of the outside world and the repressive
sexual anxiety from inside. It’s probably also the most opaque of Maddin’s
work, which is saying a lot, given the director’s tendency to avoid any idea of
a clear narrative. And perhaps Keyhole
doesn’t work on every level, but it’s still a unique piece of art that is
clearly something out of the ordinary.
