Brand Upon the Brain! [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Guy Maddin wrote and directed this wildly idiosyncratic look at one man revisiting his dysfunctional childhood. Guy (Erik Steffan Maahs) is a house painter who, at the urging of his aging mother (Gretchen Krich), returns to the tiny Canadian island where he grew up to put a fresh coat of paint on the lighthouse that was the family home. As Guy tries to cover the wear and tear of many years, he can't help but think back to his troubled youth; young Guy (Sullivan Brown) and his older sister (Maya Lawson) had to compete for attention with the children of the small orphanage Mother operated, while Father (Todd Jefferson Moore) spent most of his time in the basement, working on his latest invention. When a number of the orphans began displaying strange wounds on their heads, the island received a visit from Wendy Hale (Katherine E. Scharhon), a young detective who, along with her brother Chase, had become famous as "the Lightbulb Kids," the heroes of a series of popular books. Guy became quite infatuated with Wendy, and when the teen crime-fighter disguised herself as her brother Chase, Sis developed a powerful attraction to the "young man." As angry orphan Savage Tom (Andrew Loviska) leads a revolt of the youngsters, Chase and the Maddin siblings began to uncover the terrible secret behind Mother's and Father's seemingly unrelated occupations. Shot as a silent film, Brand Upon the Brain! was initially shown as a special presentation with live musical accompaniment from an 11-piece ensemble as well as three sound effects artists and a celebrity narrator. For later screenings, a soundtrack was prepared for the film that included the original musical score and sound effects, as well as narration by Isabella Rossellini. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • Narration tracks by Isabella Rossellini, Laurie Anderson, John Ashbery, Crispin Glover, Guy Maddin, Louis Negin, and Eli Wallach
  • "97 Percent True," a new documentary featuring interviews with the director and his collaborators
  • Two new short films directed by Maddin exclusively for this release: It's My Mother's Birthday Today and Footsteps
  • Deleted scenes
  • Trailer
  • Plus: A new essay by film critic Dennis Lim

AWARDS

• Ann Arbor Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Berlin International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2007

• London Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2007

• San Francisco International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2007

• Toronto International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2006

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Erik Steffen Maahs - Grown-up Guy Maddin
       Gretchen Lee Krich - Mother
       Sullivan Brown - Young Guy Maddin
       Maya Lawson - Sis
       Katherine E. Scharhon - Chance Hale/Wendy Hale
       Todd Jefferson Moore - Father
       Andrew Loviska - Savage Tom
       Kellan Larson - Needie
       Cathleen O'Malley - Young Mother
       Clayton Corzatte - Old Father
       Susan Corzatte - Old Mother

• Director:

  Guy Maddin

• Producer:

  Gregg Lachow, Amy E. Jacobson

• Screenwriter:

  Guy Maddin, George Toles

• Cinematographer:

  Benjamin Kasulke

• Composer (Music Score):

  Jason Staczek

• Editor:

  John Gurdebeke

• Production Designer:

  Tania Kupczak

• Associate Producer:

  Brian Grant

• Executive Producer:

  Jody Shapiro, Philip Wohlstetter, AJ Epstein

• Costume Designer:

  Nina Moser

• First Assistant Director:

  Anna Waggoner

• Casting:

  Joy Fairfield

REVIEW:

• Any Guy Maddin film is a unique experience, and Brand Upon the Brain! is no exception. In its initial theatrical engagements, the film was shown as a silent movie, accompanied not only by a live orchestra but by rotating on-site narrators and sound effects pros. Even without those extras and with prerecorded sound effects, score, and narration (by Isabella Rossellini), Brain remains a remarkable piece of cinema. True, not every viewer will get "into" the film -- there's a reason Maddin remains a cult filmmaker, after all. But Brain may be more accessible than many of the director's other films. Yes, the story it tells is still somewhat confusing and off-putting; it continues to challenge viewers on a number of levels, both in terms of meaning and the emotions it evokes. However, Brain is also a tremendous amount of ghoulish fun, and its genre leanings -- horror, teen sexuality, amateur sleuth, etc. -- provide some familiar guideposts that keep an audience member fairly secure. Some viewers will still be turned off by the florid style that Maddin imposes on his actors, and the sometimes shatteringly fast cuts and the general jumpiness of the scenes will also detract some. But those who commit to Brain will be dazzled with the results, as Maddin continues to make a case that grainy black-and-white can qualify as achingly gorgeous. Overflowing with imagination, Brand Upon the Brain! is also that rare "artsy" film that is also fun -- and that by itself should win over many admirers. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi