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The Forbidden Room
Canada 2015
produced by David Christensen, Phoebe Greenberg, Phyllis Laing, Guy Maddin, Penny Mancuso, François-Pierre Clavel (executive), Niv Fichman (executive), Jody Shapiro (executive), Jean Du Toit (supervising), Emmanuelle-Claude Heroux (supervising), Liz Jarvis (supervising) for Phi, Buffalo Gal Pictures, Kidam
directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson (co)
starring Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Udo Kier, Gregory Hlady, Mathieu Amalric, Noel Burton, Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Ahmarani, Caroline Dhavernas, Jacques Nolot, Slimane Dazi, Maria de Medeiros, Charlotte Rampling, Victor Andres Turgeon-Trelles, Andreas Apergis, Sophie Desmarais, Ariane Labed, Karine Vanasse, Romano Orzari, Alex Bisping, Kent McQuaid, Neil Napier, Kyle Gatehouse, André Wilms, Christophe Paou, Adèle Haenel, Céline Bonnier, Lewis Furey, Victoria Diamond, Mistaya Hemingway, Cynthia Ekoe, Sienna Mazzone, Vasco Bailly-Gentaud, Éric Robidoux, Amira Casar, Jean-François Stévenin, Graham Ashmore, Darcy Fehr, Kathia Rock, Luce Vigo, Judith Baribeau, Kim Morgan, Marie Brassard, Angela La Muse Senyshyn, Kimmi Melnychuk, Melissa Trainor, Pamela Iveta, Catherine Treskow, John Churchill, Matthew Comeau, Alexandre Skeret, Sherpa Macilu, Miguel Eduardo Cueva, Arthur Holden, Marie-Sophie Roy, Anthony Lemke, Victoire Du Bois, Elina Löwensohn, Russell Mael (voice)
written by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Robert Kotyk, additional material by John Ashbery, Kim Morgan, music by Galen Johnson, Jason Staczek, Guy Maddin, John Gurdebeke, visual effects by Evan Johnson
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Framed by a character called Marv (Louis Negin) explaining how to
properly take a bath, a plethora of stories unfold about a woodsman (Roy
Dupuis) mysteriously appearing on board a doomed submarine that has almost
used up its air supply but can't go up to the surface because the pressure
drop would explode its cargo. Thing is, the captain (Noel Burton) has gone
mysteriously missing. But where did the woodsman come from? All he knows
he was just up in the mountains trying to save lovely Margot (Clara Furey)
from a gang of robbers called the Red Wolves. But she has somehow become
their mascot and flees into dreamworlds where she is safe from them,
including one where she's a nightclub singer and has a lover. However, her
dream worlds get out of hand, and soon there are numerous subplots, from a
murder mystery about a man (Mathieu Amalric) killing his butler (Udo Kier)
to a horror story about a man changing into a monster thanks to the
Janus-bust he bought and now going after his doppelganger, from exotica
about a native tribe sacrificing people to their volcano to medical
science fiction stories about weird brain surgery and the curing of broken
bones ... Above synopsis can't even begin to do The
Forbidden Room justice, as probably none could, the film is actually
totally erratic, with its stories bleeding into one another, sharing
actors (sometimes in the same roles, sometimes in different ones), its
stories interrupting one another and bringing them to a stop, stories
starting (or ending) in their own middle and revolving around invariably
intentional plotholes. All this though works totally in the film's favour,
and is only heightened by Guy Maddin's trademark directorial style with
many references to silent and early sound cinema, tons of intentionally
crude special effects, visuals often reminiscent of pulp comics and pulp
magazine covers, and less than convincing backdrops and matte shots - and
all this makes up for one insane cinematic experience that's weird even by
Maddin's own standards (and his body of work is riddled with weirdness).
But what makes this movie really great - it's incredibly funny, doesn't
take itself seriously for one minute, but stays away from being
predictable or moronic but opts for a totally surreal kind of humour - and
succeeds gloriously in this. Pretty much a must-see!
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Thanks for watching !!!
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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