The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin

This informative documentary provides a glimpse of the wondrous oeuvre of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, often delirious pastiches of silent films. Well-chosen clips from Maddin’s work and that of his filmmaker heroes, including Fritz Lang, Méliès and Buñuel, illustrate his recurring preoccupations. He is inspired by silent cinema, especially from Europe, has a predilection for dark fairytales and the supernatural, and prefers to mix stylised melodrama with irony and humour. Something can be absurdist, surreal or mysterious, as long as there is an emotional logic in it. The man himself, who loves bathing in melancholy, says he is striving for ‘psychic realism’. He compares his non-narrative films with music: something touches you without your knowing exactly how that happens.
Yves Montmayeur also speaks to several of his like-minded sources of inspiration, such as Kenneth Anger, the Quay Brothers, John Waters, Isabella Rossellini and Udo Kier.