Careful (Guy Maddin, 1992)

Region 1 Zeitgeist (USA)
NTSC, 1.33:1
100 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 mono English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH
Extras: audio commentary by Guy Maddin and screenwriter George Toles; Waiting for Twilight; Odilon Redon, or The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity

Released: 24 March 2009

Note: Guy Maddin’s Careful was originally released in Region 1 on DVD by Kino Video, but Zeitgeist is regaining home-video distribution rights to some of its older titles (such as Irma Vep). The video and audio are probably improvements upon the Kino disc, though fans will want both editions since the two audio commentaries are not the same.

Guy Maddin is a singularly unique filmmaker, and describing his movies as an acquired taste doesn’t begin to cover how much of an adjustment that the average viewer has to make in order to sit through one of them. Take, for instance, Careful, which is Maddin’s homage to the mountain movies that were popular in Weimar and Nazi Germany. The basic story has some quirks and themes that aren’t found in mainstream fare, though the real shock is the movie’s visual aesthetic.

Maddin employs a wide variety of tricks, including but not limited to odd iris framings, jump/rough edits, heavy grain, etc. The color palette has wild variations, from tinting in the style of silent features and de-saturated hues reminiscent of two-strip Technicolor (similar to what Martin Scorsese used for the early parts of The Aviator) to naturalistic complexions. There’s also pervasive print damage, extreme soft focus, and extreme out-of-focus, all of which add up to a haze or fog that blankets the movie from beginning to end. When described in words, the movie’s visual style may seem innocuous, but it actually is a rather high barrier of entry for neophytes.

The story takes place in an Alpine, vaguely Germanic village where the inhabitants have to be very quiet in order to avoid triggering avalanches. This silence extends to surgical procedures to hush animals kept as transportation, pets, and food. The silence is an obvious metaphor for repression; the villagers can’t blow off any steam, so their psychological compositions become rather skewed. The residents are discouraged from energetic physical activity, which is an inversion of the German mountain films’ philosophy.

The primary narrative begins with Johann proposing to Klara. Upon delivering the news to his mother and brother Grigorss, Grigorss snaps breadsticks in his clenched fist in obvious displeasure, but the three eventually dance in celebration with the sons taking turns pairing off with their rather young mother. Meanwhile, a third brother is locked away in the attic, barely staying alive with food sneaked upstairs by Johann. At night, Johann has incestuous dreams about his mother instead of healthy thoughts about Klara. This group is only the first of many instances of sibling rivalry and Oedipal complexes/Electra crises.

Whether or not one can “get” Maddin depends on your willingness to meet the director at least halfway, though the movie’s humor is undeniable. The puppet/shadow shows and the use of matte backgrounds/rear projection is intentionally awkward and silly. The costumes, particularly the uniforms that Johann and Grigorss wear for their butler school classes, are laugh-out-loud ridiculous. While it’s obvious that Maddin has a fondness for silents and early talkies, he doesn’t mind aping the primitive constructs that characterized pre-classical cinema.

Video:
Aside from noting that the movie is presented in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, there’s nothing more to add to what I already wrote about the movie’s visuals in the main review.

Audio:
This disc has an evenly-balanced DD 2.0 mono English audio track. Though music cues are lively and forceful, they never drown out dialogue when dialogue is meant to be heard. Bear in mind, though, that due to the nature of the story, there are times when you see the actors’ mouths move but are not supposed to hear them since they’re whispering.

Extras:
There’s a new audio commentary by Guy Maddin and screenwriter George Toles. It appears that they contributed an audio commentary to the previous Kino DVD, though presumably due to licensing issues, Zeitgeist asked the pair to record a new talk track. Though they admit upfront that their memories of the production aren’t entirely fresh, they provide plenty of anecdotes and insights to delight fans.

“Waiting for Twilight” is a documentary about Guy Maddin that was shot in 1997 during the production of one of his movies. Maddin mentions that he’s going to stop making movies, but obviously, he hasn’t made good on this promise/threat.

“Odilon Redon, or The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity” is a short film directed by Guy Maddin that pays tribute to a French painter.

--Miscellaneous--
The transparent keepcase lets you see the movie and DVD production credits printed on the inside of the cover art. The package also includes a postcard and a fold-out booklet with J. Hoberman’s original review from 1992 as well as DVD chapter listings.