Careful

If you are a fan of German Expressionism, then you will enjoy this modern homage to a beautiful and arresting style perceived and captured wonderfully by Guy Maddin. There is a ton of symbolism and exploration of the sexual taboos found in both the Oedipus and Cassandra complexes of Greek mythology while allowing for quite humorous character developments which certainly make the film that much more enjoyable than just an "art" film. Maddin's use of light and especially color adds to the classic expressionist model which gets a gorgeous injection of modern fare. While I can enjoy the notion of one reviewer calling this a cross between "The Wizard of Oz and Eraserhead", I definately saw this as a much more direct colorful homage to "Caligari" than anything Lynch-esque. There is not the mind-numbing mixture of light and sound which generates its own tension but rather a playful use of sets and characters which surmount to quite a comical time. That is not to say there is not a scene or two that would make a horror fan happy but they are very straight forward and even amusing.

Influenced by the German Expressionist films of the 1920s and filtered through the oddball sensibilities of writer/director Guy Maddin, Careful is a film like no other. Maddin appropriates silent cinema's monochrome aesthetic in multiple scenes but even when color is being used in a more traditional way he tends to fill the screen with garish brightness. The film has (melo)dramatic elements but is primarily comedic, albeit with a wink and a nudge subtlety almost altogether absent from silent film's heyday.

The bizarre plot of the film is centered on a repressed mountain community, particularly the brothers Johan and Grigors and their mother. The boys' father, who lost both his eyes in separate freak accidents, is long since dead and their older brother is locked in the attic where he silently watches. Johan and his younger brother spend most of their time in a strict school for butlers where they learn about dining etiquette and grooming. Johan becomes engaged to Klara, a local girl who lusts after her own father in spite of his clear favoritism toward his younger daughter, in spite of his own obsessive lust directed at his mother. Naturally, characters become involved in murder plots, duels, and suicide as they're too repressed and shut off to resolve their problems in a less dramatic fashion.

Thematically, Careful is too jumbled to have much coherence but like most Maddin films this is more about style than plot or meaning. Maddin's creative visual style is engaging enough on its own to make Careful a worthwhile film.

I recently watched the film, Careful, by Guy Maddin on television and found it to be very interesting indeed. The person introducing the film called Maddin a Canadian David Lynch and while both directors do have a certain flair for the unusual, I believe Lynch to be a surrealist while Maddin's style to be something else entirely. Granted, Careful is the only film of Maddin's I have seen except for excerpts and press for The Saddest Music in the World, but his style, at least in this film, is one of sentimentality and homage. I have seen plenty of German Expressionist films and Careful would seem to fit right into that mold. I myself have often toyed with the idea of producing a film in the Expressionist style if only for the exercise of it. Maddin has produced an Expressionist film in the year 1992 which flawlessly mimics the films of Ufa, Wiene, Murnau, and Lang from the early 20th century. Any viewer, even those versed in early Expressionism, who would happen across this film without any context would be forgiven for mistaking it to be an actual 80-year-old film, so true is Maddin's style, so exacting is his pacing. Full frame color tinting, sound stage shooting, post-produced soundtrack, rigid acting style, and obsolete directorial choices, combine to provide the viewer with a disturbing portrait of repression, duty, and mountain goats. This film is incredible!

Guy Madden is almost like the David Lynch of Canada. His films have a look all of their own; blending surrealism with German style expressionism. The grainy slightly faded style of his films, make them appear from another era. "Careful" is filmed in a bright Technicolor style that's visually dazzling. The film contains Icelandic folk lore with dark humor. The story concerns a town living in the mountains. They have to watch their every move so they don't cause an avalanche. So they try to keep quiet and not make much noise out of fear. Many of the characters have strange incestuous desires that lead them to insanity. Especially Yohan and his fantasies about his mother. Yuck! This is one strange film, with picturesque landscapes that look like they jumped out of a Salvador Dali painting. If you are looking for a disturbing candy colored dark comedy, careful you don't pass this opportunity up.

Hilariously demented: Take camera work and set design inspired by "The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari" and the early talkie "Svengali", scenario and dialogue that might have been written by Ibsen (under the influence of peyote), then put a creature from Alpha Centauri doing his first English-language film in the director's chair and you get some idea of what this movie is like.

If there's not something wrong with you, you won't like this movie at all, but there's much here that twisted sensibilities will find appealing. Consider yourself warned.