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Watching Guy Maddin's Careful is like stepping into a mutating time warp of cinema history, where German alpine dramas of the 1920s are gene-spliced with Daliesque surrealism, Murnau's silent melodrama, and--in an uncannily precise act of stylistic homage--the hypnotically skewed universe of German Expressionism. Filmed in gloriously filtered colors that cross Maxfield Parrish with Peter Max, this stylistic hybrid virtually defies description and must be seen to be truly appreciated. Suffice it to say, the fictional mountain village of Tolzbad--where silence is golden, and extreme measures are taken to avoid a sound-induced avalanche--is one of the strangest and most outrageously amusing locations in the history of film. Youthink that's an exaggeration? If anything, it's an understatement.

The villagers of Tolzbad have developed repression into an art form: nearly every sentence begins with "Don't," and they slavishly follow a litany of safety guidelines. Desires are equally suppressed, and this precarious equilibrium is fractured when a young villager's Oedipal dreams collide with his dysfunctional family reality. Pandora's box is opened, Tolzbad-style, and Careful turns into a fever-dream of sibling rivalry, forbidden romance, suicide, murder, and delirious cinematic ecstasy. This is Maddin's best and most coherent film, but even so it's hardly for everyone; only the truly adventurous film lover will eagerly follow Maddin on this demented journey, but the rewards are plentiful for those who dare. Many films strive for enduring uniqueness, but few can make that claim as triumphantly as Careful. This is filmmaking on another plane of consciousness--quite simply, a work of art like nothing you've ever seen. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Like a very funny and beautiful dream...
When I first saw this film at a special screening at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the host described Guy Maddin as "Winnipeg's answer to David Lynch... that is, if David Lynch were as good as Guy Maddin." The praise might be just: there are lovely dreamlike effects in Maddin's film (especially this, one of his best) which are like nothing David Lynch ever achieved.

CAREFUL is a tribute to the great bergenfilms of the Weimar Republic, and is filmed with the same kinds of filmic effects and film stock as those lovely little hallucinations of the silent era. The film is largely about the joys of repression, and what disasters can be brought about without it. If you think I'm being facetious, you're wrong: in Maddin's deliriously offkilter Expressionist universe, every act of curiosity is sure to kill a cat, and everyone else besides.(the film's prologue, which explains all this, is one of the funniest things I've ever seen: "Careful, don't touch that pot!") Maddin's muse, the very gifted Kyle McCulloch, is on-hand as usual. This film can't be explained, but it also shouldn't be missed.

goofy , tedious, grossly arty
Interesting looking, one of a kind, but very dull art film. What I assume the filmmakers are saying is that if people were to open up about a number of societal taboos that it would open a can of worms. But its torture to sit though this very slow annoying film for that message. I found this expensive looking purposely choppy film's acting, color photography, story, characters, dialogue dubbing and sound effects to be grossly arty but not compelling...although I will say that a few of the Lynchian jokes were mildly funny. As for an original art film? -Pop psychology, extensive symbolism, intentional camp, and sets that imitate German expressionism have already been done...ad-nauseum. What might be considered original here is that the director chose to parody the style and mood of an old German mountain climbing film. Frankly I've never watched an entire one of these but let it be clear that German mountain climbing films are extremely esoteric - so who is Careful made for...15 people? The most preposterous thing is that the guys that made the very goofy Careful thought so much of themselves that they had the nerve to make fun of someone else's film. I'd recommend Careful for art students, but why? When you can still see all the original films that Careful imitates. Without being able to recommend Careful to anyone - Id still give Careful four stars in that - the techinical people such as set designers, photographers, film and sound editors were obviously meticulous about there craft. Also that the producers and the director had the nerve, talent, gall or perseverance to capture their warped vision on celluloid in the 1990s. But I take away 2 stars for being monotonous, dull and one more of thousands of pretentious, blurry, out of focus art films. By the way - did I read the end credits right? Is this the kind of thing Canadians are spending their tax dollars on?

The quality of the film stock, sound and extras provided by Kino Video are excellent.

Keep an Eye on Guy
I'll never forget the first time I saw a Guy Maddin film--it was "Tales from Gimli Hospital." When it ended I sat quietly for a few moments and just muttered "Holy Cow" over and over. "Gimli" is an early and very low budget effort. "Careful" shows Guy nearing a peak that hopefully will go on for a few more decades.

Guy somehow (and miraculously) manages to sum up the entire history of cinema in his work. While there's much chatter about his obvious retro style, few have noticed his nods to Godard and more recent filmmakers. He may seem to mimic early films with missing frames and soundtrack problems but these "affectations" are ultimately as expressive as the equivalent jump cuts and soundtrack dropouts in Godard's "Alphaville." They're richer too because of the inevitable multiple associations. His amazing short, "Heart of the World" (one of the best shorts I've ever seen) owes as much to modern MTV editing styles as it does to early Soviet cinema (and creates a bridge and dialogue between two seemingly unrelated creative eras). Guy's not an artsy filmmaker, he's just a "guy" who loves movies passionately and works, unselfconsciously, with film's full lexicon.

"Careful" is a beautiful (often breathtakingly gorgeous), complex, unique, and very funny film. He's made a disturbing comedy about tragic and sensitive issues or maybe a tragedy about comic issues--there's something almost Shakespearean about his output. He also has a knack for getting memorable performances from his actors.

No this film isn't for everyone--right now at least--but I'm convinced we are currently witnessing the appearance of one of film's truly great creative geniuses. His films make one realize how stunningly shallow so many modern movies are, overburdened with flashy technologies like CGI, mandatory pop-cultural references, pretty people, and consumerism. His output is also a challenge to the equally bankrupt "underground" or "counter-culture." By avoiding every modern cliché, trend, anti-trend, technology, anti-technology, and pretense in his work he's giving us, in this film and others, timeless and (a rare thing these days) sublime works that are, even after all this lofty commentary, still pretty damned funny!

Recommended by Leni Reifenstahl!
When Maddin showed this homage to kitschy, proto-Nazi German "mountain films" (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, see Susan Sontag's essay "Fascinating Fascism) to their one-time star and later Nazi propogandist filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, she proclaimed it brilliant--high praise coming from a demented genius. Maddin is also a demented genius, though not of the same ilk as Reifenstahl. Maddin and regular screenwriting collaborator George Toles, the cerebral bad boys of Canadian cinema, are at their naughtiest and cheekiest here, paying tribute to racist kitsch, promoting repression, and playing with Freud's concept of family romance. Although after you see this movie you may need to re-think the concept of "bad boys"...

The film's homage to German expressionism has been widely noted, but Maddin and Toles, no typical film students, are also deeply versed in studio-era Hollywood melodrama (if you don't believe me, see Toles's book of film criticism, "A House Made of Light"), and there's an intriguing family melodrama here underneath the multiple layers of stylization, allusions to the history of cinema, and Maddin's quirky obsessions--with ritual, for example. In other words, it's not all a postmodern in-joke, so if you like your nihilism old-fashioned, based in the self-destructive human psyche--get it here.

This is Maddin's best feature film, in my opinion, because it has an hilarious and lucid premise from which the absurdist tragedy logically unfolds, which is also a brilliant psychological trope: in the isolated mountain village of Tolsbad (a metaphor for Canada, duh) the citizens must be careful not to raise their voices above a whisper or cause any other kind of disturbance for fear of causing an avalanche. After watching this film, if you have children or small siblings you may become disturbingly aware of how many times per hour in how many contexts you use the word "Careful!" Should be seen as a double-bill with Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers" for anyone who wants to understand the Canadian psyche--but then again, believe me, you don't.

Snowy Surrealism
One of Guy Maddin's best-known films, Careful is naturally, extremely bizarre. The inhabitants of a mountain village must be careful not to make a noise loud enough to trigger an avalanche, which would bury them all. Naturally ther are all repressed, sexually as well as literally.
The film is often very funny, with great lines of dialogue such as "here is all the hair I've lost in the past few weeks." Even the Oedipal elements are so melodramatic they're pretty chuckly. The colour scheme is pretty painful on the eyes, and often irritating, but it does make the film what it is. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

A Gorgeous Melding of the Surreal and Folklore
From the very first frame, Guy Maddin's offbeat "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" takes us into a brilliantly conceived world where the surreal and the ancient merge to form one of the most unique and thrilling cinematic realms ever seen. Combining gothic sensibility with early twentieth century silent film techniques, Maddin creates an atmosphere drenched with visual delights, horrors and deep rooted symbolism. What Maddin has done with this film is create a visionary work that is nearly flawless. Although the film takes many viewings to fully sink in due to its strange structure and deliberately labyrinthine story telling, it is a fully realized piece of avant-garde cinema in the tradition of the great works of the silent German Expressionists. By taking ancient Icelandic folktales and blending them with incongrous and fantastical images onto a black and white celluloid canvas, Maddin has done with one film what few directors ever accomplish in their entire carreers ....the creation of a truly unique and worthy piece of cinemtaic art!

MAKES YOUR HMO LOOK GOOD
...

"TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL" is the black and white first film from Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin and it reflects the best of the great silent and surrealist directors like F.W. Murnau, Luis Bunuel and Jean Cocteau. Originally released in 1988, this 68 minute nightmare is set during a smallpox epidemic in the village of Gimli, Manitoba, at the beginning of the 20th century. Friends Emar and Gunnar are two male patients who share a hospital room as well as their darkest secrets. Disturbing tales of creeping pestilence, unconsummated passions, envy, necrophilia are told climaxing in a deadly battle between the former friends now rivals. Moody, weird and atmospheric, the Gimli universe has been embraced by the midnight movie circuit and set the director's career in motion. The disc includes a crisp full frame transfer, an impish director's commentary and two of his short films.

My favorite movie of all time
I've watched this movie several times and am fascinated by it. What makes it so terrific is its uniqueness and the wonderfully fitting music that is found throughout the effort. You'll never see another movie like this and I must say that you have to be a little "off center" to enjoy it. If you're looking for something different then I recommend you try it.

why the hype?
This is ham-fisted moviemaking at its worst--or should I say best? Burdened by an impossibly cheesy plot which fills the movie with more dead-air time than your next laundryroom round, the movie is at once too insultingly imcompetent to be a homage to the great German expressionist films which supposedly inspired it, and too boring and poker-faced to be a send-up of anything but the director's own mediocrity. Go see any film by Murnau, Pabst, Ruttmann, or Lang from the 20s--or for that matter any silent films at random, whether Russian, American, French, whatever--and they'll be infinitely better than this puerile endeavor at self-indulgence.

Tales From A Parallel Universe
Poor Einar the Lonely (another of Guy Maddin's hapless heroes) has fallen a victim to the disfiguring pestilence that has been dropping from a great height onto the Canadian/Icelandic community of Gimli, Manitoba. He drags himself to the Gimli Hospital, a strange place where puppet shows are used in place of anaesthetic and the 13-year-old nurses ignore Einar in favor of Gunnar. Gunnar is the occupant of the bed next to Einar's; Einar's initial jealousy turns to friendship... but as the two men begin to exchange confidences, a secret comes out that makes them deadly enemies.

Although the story is set in "a Gimli we no longer know", there really is such a place as Gimli, and there is a real Gimli Hospital. The Gimli of the film seems to exist in a time warp in which it is always 2 A.M., 1930; there is a late-night atmosphere over everything, and even the sun seems to give off an artificial light. The production values and the overall look of the film recall the early days of sound films ("White Zombie", "Vampyr", etc.). Maddin has taken great pains to recreate the technical limitations of those old movies, right down to the scratch and hum on the soundtrack.

Imagine either SCTV doing a parody of Ingmar Bergman or Ingmar Bergman doing a segment for SCTV-- in fact, in certain shots Kyle McCulloch (Einar) and Michael Gottli (Gunnar) resemble Joe Flaherty and John Candy. There's a great deal of deadpan silliness to this film, but you can't help but like the characters (Gunnar is hapless too); there's no directoral irony that invites us to look down on the cast. This is a film that walks a fine line between honest emotion and kitsch.

In that vein, one of the extra features provided with the DVD is the short film "The Dead Father", which has its comedic moments but is ultimately touching and will resonate with those who have lost a family member only to have him or her show up in their dreams. It's a serious film with funny overtones; sort of the flip side of "Tales of the Gimli Hospital". The last ten minutes are especially poignant.

Maddin provides a rollicking, often digressive commentary; it may not tell you everything you want to know, but it's a lot of fun to listen to. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Wonderful interpretation of a dark classic!!!
There have been many film versions of Bram Stoker's tale of vampires, DRACULA, but none have been done with such grace and raw sexuality as this film version (called DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN'S DIARY) based on the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's production. Directed by Guy Maddin to Gustav Mahler's music and Mark Godden's choreography, the ballet covers the old story of the vampire Count Dracula (Zhang Wei-Qiang) and his seductions of Lucy Westernra (Tara Birtwhistle) and Mina Murray (CindyMarie Small) until his ultimate destruction at the hands of Dr. Van Helsing (David Moroni). With its stark black and white images, mixed with various color tinitings and almost painted-on highlights the film is both stark and beautiful in its presentation.
Since this film is essentially a filmed ballet, all of the acting is done in mime. As a result, the film is given an almost silent film (complete with sub-titles) atmosphere to the whole proceedings. Zhang Wei-Qiang makes for a romantic, yet imperiously aloof Dracula, while CindyMarie Small is just the right blend of innocence and desire as Mina. However, it is Tara Birtwhistle's Lucy and David Maroni's Van Helsing that truly capture the attention. Birtwhistle exudes both playfulness and raw sexuality in her stunning portrayal, while Maroni's intense bearing makes him a formidable foe for Dracula.
The entire ensemble does wonderful work and the film goes at a good clip at 74 minutes. However, the film's first half is probably more interesting to non-ballet fans as most of the special effects and wild staging seem to take place here. The DVD has some wonderful extras including some radio interviews with the producer and director, a Canadian news story about the film, photos, and an insightful commentary by Maddin.
For fans of ballet, Dracula, or both, this film is definitely a must-see and something that I would highly recommend.

Surreal and beautiful images tainted by goofy subtitles.
This is one of those films people will be talking about for years to come. It's a truly unique and beautiful work. The amazing thing is that Maddin (or rather his under appreciated cinematographer) uses the camera like a ballet dancer. So you've got lots of kinetics going on three levels: The Dancers, the incredible camera work as it flows with the movement, and the cool fast Montage editing made famous by Russian director's from the 20's like Vertov, Kuleshov and Eisentein.
No doubt about it, the plum role is Lucy Westenra and it always has been. The first half of the film is gorgeous as she steals the show from Dracula himself. I liked the Renfield make-up too, which brings to mind Lon Chaney's lost vampire from "London After Midnight"
So what spoiled the soup for me? The Intertitles are Horribly done and stupid as Maddin tries to thwack us over the head with his post-modern 21st century glibness. Worst of all is that the titles look modern, like some junky Photoshop file pasted over the incredible 16mm black & white film. They really break the visual and metaphorical illusion that you're watching some long forgotten silent film. They're not funny nor informative, just badly done and poorly thought out.

The director's comments are OK. Most director's talk too much, and DVDs give them a shameless chance to indulge. But this is worth watching to see how they filmed the ballet. For you film buffs, the guy is using a 16mm Bolex with only 100 feet of film at a time. That means he can only shoot for 20-30 seconds before having to stop and re-crank the clockwork motor! This camera guy really did it old school, and it shows how film making was back in the dawn of cinema. Vampire fans, Film Buffs, & Anne Rice afficianadoes will love this. Just close your eyes during the intertitles....

Guy Maddin films the ballet "Dracula" as a silent movie
Actually, if you stop and think about it, the idea of filming a ballet as a silent movie makes perfect sense. But because this rather obvious comparison has never occurred to us before the decision of director Guy Maddin ("Careful," "Tales From the Gimli Hospital") to film Mark Godden's "Dracula" as adapted and choreographed for Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet seems like a masterstroke. I was not surprised that somebody would write a ballet based on Dracula, but it turns out that is not exactly what happened here. The music in "Dracula - Pages from a Virgin's Diary" is by Gustav Mahler, taken from his first and second symphonies, neither of which was written as dance music for Bram Stoker's gothic horror novel, but Godden and Maddin make it all work. So that is too surprises delivered to the audience before Dracula ever starts dancing.

For those familiar with the novel or the various film versions of "Dracula" that have tried to stay in the vicinity of Stoker's original text, the story picks up in England with Lucy Westernra (Tara Birthwhistle) trying to pick between her three suitors, Dr. Jack Seward (Matthew Johnson), Arthur Holmwood (Stephane Leonard), and Quincy Morris (Keir Knight), not to mention creepy bug-eating Renfield (Brent Neale). When Lucy falls prey to the vampire's curse, Dr. Van Helsing (David Moroni) arrives to teach the unbelievers what to do when someone they love becomes one of the undead.

The second half of the ballet deal with the effort by Dracula (Wei-Qiang Zhang) to take Mina (CindyMarie Small) away from her intended, Jonathan Harker (Johnny A. Wright), and the flight back to Castle Dracula. But if Lucy is the pivotal character in the first half the film, and Birthwhistle's performance is the most thrilling in the ballet, then it clearly all comes down to Dracula in the second half. The vampire's final fate will certainly strike a chord with those aware of the more perverse habits of the historical Vlad the Impaler, who served as the inspiration for Stoker's Dracula. Those familiar with the story will have no trouble following along, but the copious use of title cards fill in any and all gaps. Fortunately they become much less frequent in the ballet's climax, where dance becomes the vital medium of expression.

Visually, "Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary" is as fascinating as Abel Gance's "Napoleon" or Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane." Maddin shot the film in black & white on both 16mm and Super 8 stock, used special effects and aging techniques to simulate the grainy and shadowy images of silent films, and tinted frames various colors to accent items. The inside of Dracula's cape and most of the blood in the film appears bright red. Those familiar with the standard techniques of silent films (wipes, iris shots, soft framing, intertitles, tinting) will find that Maddin employs them and then turns them into something more suited to his own tastes (you can listen to the director's audio commentary to get insights into all the strange and weird things he did in putting Mark Godden's ballet on screen, such as using Bram Stoker's text as much as possible for the titles and chocolate syrup for the blood in the opening credits).

Maddin avoids sustained shots; there must be at least a dozen cuts in every single minute of this 75-minute film. When you check out the Behind the Scenes segment on the DVD you will see what Winnepig audiences saw on stage with this version of "Dracula," but there are relatively few moments that are recognizable of that production in the film. Shooting the footage was just the first part of the artistic process for Maddin. Fans of the silent cinema may well be more impressed with this film than devotees of the ballet or those who like vampire movies.

Not surprisingly the emphasis is on the eroticism inherent in the story that is as important as the horror. The sets for the convent and Dracula's castle invoke the height of German Expressionism, but the soft shapes and curves of the walls also emphasize the sensual. All of this serves as a setting for the sensual dancing. The coy sensuality of Lucy and her beaus because charged with a more overt sexuality when she becomes a vampire, while Dracula's coolness only serves to heighten his raw sexual energy. Fans of the ballet will probably not appreciation all of the hoops Maddin makes them jump through to watch the dancing here, but I think fans of Dracula will really enjoy this bold twist on the old tale.

The single best ballet movie ever
Pairing the singular vision of Guy Maddin with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's production of "Dracula" was sheer genius: "Dracula," with its emphasis on the advent of modernity and corporeal corruption and repressed sexuality, is the ideal vehicle for Maddin's peculiar talents. What's more, using ballet dancers allowed him the opportunity to make a completely silent film (scored only with excerpts from Mahler's first and second symphonies). The results are stunning: this film has the most beautiful cinematography of any I've seen in years, the performances are superb, and Maddin even allows his trademark campy humor to creep into the titles (though not so much that it becomes annoying). The most beautiful sequences are danced in Lucy Westenra's mansion near the beginning, but the only thing is spectacular.

Awesome interpretation
What an orgional idea. Many theater companies are scrambling to reproduce this concept live. You must see (and hear)the film to
appreciate this radical concept. He pulls it off, it works!
The music from Gustav Mahler is inspiring and would stand on it's own. Brilliant score. The main dancer (?) is a sight to behold. You almost can't take your eyes off him. ... Read more