Guy Maddin's Winnipeg

I saw Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg the other night at the Walker Theatre. There's been so much buzz about My Winnipeg ranging from local papers, to the LA Times, to that Ebert guy, that it was something I simply had to see.

I try to support Canadian and local cinema when I can so I have seen two of Maddin's previous films: Saddest Music in the World and Cowards Bend the Knee . The results were mixed for me. I enjoyed the latter, but the former was a bit too long and mystical for my stunted artistic tastes.

This was actually a My Winnipeg evening. There was a reception, followed by Maddin doing a live narration of the movie, then an interview with Michael Enright afterwards.

I spoke with Maddin briefly at the reception and he was a really nice, down to earth guy who was actually a bit nervous about the showing. Not sure what I was expecting, but after seeing a couple of his films would have been ready for almost anything!

The end result is that I really enjoyed the film. It was an interesting mix of biography, fantasy, and documentary with the lines between the three constantly blurred. He used the term "docu-fantasia" to describe it.

I see in Ebert's piece that he decided not to investigate the film's claims further as he wanted to keep the blurred lines of fantasy and reality alive. He writes: "Is that true? It's as true as anything else in the film. My friend Tony Scott of the New York Times thought he should check out some of the facts in "My Winnipeg," but decided not to. Why should he doubt the film?"

A couple of interesting notes from after the film.

Maddin said the "If Day" footage was a last minute addition and that some scenes had to be cut to fit it in. (The scene was of local actors dressed as invading Nazi soldiers going to various famous restaurants in the city to eat - Kelekis, Rae and Gerry's etc.)

He said he never heard of If Day until he was meeting one of the New York people that was going to work on the film. When he told the guy he was making a film about Winnipeg the guy said - oh, I bet it's about If Day!! Maddin had to research it and liked it so much added it to the movie.

Also, at the end of the performance he introduced a special guest sitting in the loges - his Mom.

Update: The family home / beauty parlour of his youth was a real place! Lil's Beauty Shop on Ellice Avenue.