SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD (2003)

Art is a subjective experience with no necessarily functional purpose, but with the intent to create a unique happening as time and place are relative to the creator's approach to the moment of conceptualization of an impression.  The impression art has on it’s audience is relative to the audience's acquired values, morals, and beliefs, which are based on life long experiences.  The obtained knowledge will help skew the audience's appreciation of the art in the direction of like or dislike.  This means that the appreciation of the art is completely in the hands of the spectator as knowledge and wisdom function as a guide.  One of these art forms is music as it produces a subjective happening as the listener makes their own judgment based on their past experiences and values, which makes it desirable or not. 

In the Saddest Music of the World Lady Port-Huntley (Isabella Rossellini) arranges a musical competition, in Winnipeg, Canada, at peak of the Great Depression.  The Great Depression, a time when people suffered from starvation, poverty, and homelessness in great numbers throughout many parts of the world, has a special spot in American history.  This was a time when United States enforced the law of prohibition, yet alcohol was still easily accessible in illegal clubs and bars where people could drown their sorrows.  Misery was plentiful and an income was hard to come by, which made the $25,000 winning reward in the music competition extremely attractive as many had plenty of misery to share.  However, the music competition was a front for corporate greed as the winning music was intended to help increase the revenues for alcohol sales, as prohibition was nearing its end. 

The story opens with Chester Kent's (Mark McKinney) visit to a blind seer in Winnipeg where he is told to look into his own lost soul and listen to seer’s warning.  Chester does not take the warning seriously.  Instead Chester takes the opportunity to have a sexual encounters with his nymphomaniac mistress and traveling companion Narcissa (Maria de Medeiros) while insulting the seer at the end.  This moment sets up Chester’s character, which seems to be driven by an enterprising greed and cruelty towards those in his path, while missing the important aspects of life.  Chester also has certain levels of talent to create music, but he does not possess the ability to feel the musical experience as he seems to lack the wisdom.

After the brief introduction of Chester the audience is to follow him on his reunion with his former lover and brewery owner Lady Port-Huntley, his father, Fyodor (David Fox), and his long lost Serbian brother, Roderick (Ross McMillan).  Chester’s reunion brings several flashbacks to the audience where the viewer can witness the tragedy behind the family whose pain is about to be exploited on the stage as they all compete for the $25,000.  These flashbacks show how Lady Port-Huntley lost her legs by the alcoholic hands of Fyodor and how Roderick lost his son followed by his wife leaving him.  When these people meet again it tears up old scars that never seemed to have healed, which causes further anguish among those involved.

The competition becomes a farce where the true beauty of the musical art is exploited and measured by how much beer the audience gulps down during the competition.  In addition, Lady Port-Huntley is the lone judge of the competition, as her choice of a winner is ultimately affected by her past experiences with the competing persons.  This means that the competition turns out to be a subjective experience, but not subjective in regards to the music.  Chester who knows Lady Port-Huntley pushes the right buttons in order to achieve the goal to win the $25,000.  This means that Chester also buys the competition as he cannot generate something completely unique, and he turns the music into a decadent show of visual and auditory experiences, which means that he does not rely on the music. 

Each musical performance is represented by countries such as Siam, Serbia, and the United States whereas Chester represents the United States, his father Canada, and his brother Serbia.  The national division serves as an analogy to the dysfunction in the family.  It also provides some insights to why the family members lack appropriate communication skills, or empathy to hear the pain of others as their pain seems to be overwhelming to themselves.  This notion is supported by flashbacks and heavy symbolism such as Roderick carrying his child’s heart in a glass jar that is submerged in his tears.

The director, Guy Maddin, produces a genuinely surreal cinematic event that will bring the audience a nostalgic visual experience through the throwback cinematography.  The throwback cinematography reminds the viewer of films made during the silent era, and the time when the story supposedly takes place, 1933.  The camera has a clear focus in the center of the image while the surrounding area closer to the edge of the frame becomes more dissolved into fussiness.  The film is mostly shot in black and white, but it does have moments of color that enhance the emotional experience.  Using this technique adds to the visual experience in a way that makes it feel as if it was the 1930s.

The Saddest Music in the World is in the hands of the beholder, and to truly become engrossed by the story it helps to have a good understanding of the art form film.  This is because the film utilizes a unique style that brings bizarre comedy and tragedy mixed into one while the script and cast guide the audience into a bleak dream where Maddin conceptualizes his vision of a personal impression.  In the end, the impression is left for the audience to ponder as Maddin leaves the viewers a heap of notions and perspectives on what has taken place during the film.

DIRECTED BY
Guy Maddin

COUNTRY

Canada
REVIEWED
1/25/2005
GRADE


Filmography links and data courtesy of  
The Internet Movie Database.