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Are you ready for something strange? This is it! Isabella Rossellini stars as an
eccentric Canadian heiress, Lady Port-Huntley, who offers $25,000 to the person who
brings her beer company the saddest music in the world. She suspects that prohibition in
America will be lifted soon, and she intends to get the thirsty Americans’ business. So
everyone tunes their radios to the contest and listens for the saddest music in the
world—in between beer ads.
Of course, there’s more. Rossellini,
unfortunate beauty that she is, is missing her legs, which were amputated by a drunken
doctor by mistake. She was cheating on the doctor with his son, and the doctor got a bit
jealous, but he’s never stopped loving her. To win her back, he has invented her a
lovely pair of beer glass legs, complete with foaming ale! (I told you it was a weird
movie.)
Will she forgive the doctor, who’s also in the contest for having
the saddest music in the world? Will she instead choose Chester (Mark McKinney), the
doctor’s son, whom she fell for years before (and who’s also in the contest)? Or how
about the doctor’s second son, Roderick (Ross McMillan), the one who carries his dead
son’s heart in a jar and believes he’s from Serbia? And will Roderick find out his
brother, Chester, is having an affair with his long lost wife, Narcissa (Maria de
Medeiros)?
Directed by Guy Maddin and filmed in black and white, this
movie certainly
isn’t for everyone. It’s odd. You never know what will happen
next—because you’re not sure you know what just happened. I do know you’ll be craving a
cold one after watching almost two hours of beer flowing and pouring, though, so you
might as well buy a six-pack before you start the movie. It’ll save you a trip
later.
I liked this movie because I go for the bizarre. However, it’s
definitely a rental, not one to buy—unless, of course, you’re a fan of Guy Maddin’s
films. I see this one as too weird for most audiences—but a good film for people who
like the unusual.
