Cheap Careful (DVD) (Guy Maddin) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Careful

A rare and wonderful delicacy, but not for everybody
Anyone not already acquainted with Guy Maddin's work can't possibly know what to expect when viewing this film for the first time. I had never heard of Maddin before, but I first saw it screened at a small art house, and I found it both fascinating and hilarious. Anyone with an affinity for old (ca. 1920s and 1930s) German expressionist films like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari should like the cinematography. It beautifully replicates the cramped, claustrophobic, deeply-shadowed, artificial-looking, distorted and surreal settings of expressionist films (in color, yet). The soundtrack even has a fake layer of noise added, to bolster the illusion of an old film. It is also inspired by the so-called "mountain films" from Germany (see Riefensthal's "Blue Light," for example). The acting is also purposely stilted, artificial and stylized, to hilarious effect. The plot is a quagmire of tortuous, pseudo-Freudian hang-ups that seem to doom everyone to a tragic end. This may sound grim, but it's not meant to be taken seriously. This is definitely something different, if that's what you're looking for, and as I've said, anyone who likes expressionist films should love this, as familiarity with the old films makes this one even more funny. I do wish the tape would come down in price though. More people could then get to know this rare treat. While a DVD would be wonderful, I suppose it's unlikely.

---

Keep an Eye on Guy
I'll never forget the first time I saw a Guy Maddin film--it was "Tales from Gimli Hospital." When it ended I sat quietly for a few moments and just muttered "Holy Cow" over and over. "Gimli" is an early and very low budget effort. "Careful" shows Guy nearing a peak that hopefully will go on for a few more decades.

Guy somehow (and miraculously) manages to sum up the entire history of cinema in his work. While there's much chatter about his obvious retro style, few have noticed his nods to Godard and more recent filmmakers. He may seem to mimic early films with missing frames and soundtrack problems but these "affectations" are ultimately as expressive as the equivalent jump cuts and soundtrack dropouts in Godard's "Alphaville." They're richer too because of the inevitable multiple associations. His amazing short, "Heart of the World" (one of the best shorts I've ever seen) owes as much to modern MTV editing styles as it does to early Soviet cinema (and creates a bridge and dialogue between two seemingly unrelated creative eras). Guy's not an artsy filmmaker, he's just a "guy" who loves movies passionately and works, unselfconsciously, with film's full lexicon.

"Careful" is a beautiful (often breathtakingly gorgeous), complex, unique, and very funny film. He's made a disturbing comedy about tragic and sensitive issues or maybe a tragedy about comic issues--there's something almost Shakespearean about his output. He also has a knack for getting memorable performances from his actors.

No this film isn't for everyone--right now at least--but I'm convinced we are currently witnessing the appearance of one of film's truly great creative geniuses. His films make one realize how stunningly shallow so many modern movies are, overburdened with flashy technologies like CGI, mandatory pop-cultural references, pretty people, and consumerism. His output is also a challenge to the equally bankrupt "underground" or "counter-culture." By avoiding every modern cliché, trend, anti-trend, technology, anti-technology, and pretense in his work he's giving us, in this film and others, timeless and (a rare thing these days) sublime works that are, even after all this lofty commentary, still pretty damned funny!

---

goofy , tedious, grossly arty
Interesting looking, one of a kind, but very dull art film. What I assume the filmmakers are saying is that if people were to open up about a number of societal taboos that it would open a can of worms. But its torture to sit though this very slow annoying film for that message. I found this expensive looking purposely choppy film's acting, color photography, story, characters, dialogue dubbing and sound effects to be grossly arty but not compelling...although I will say that a few of the Lynchian jokes were mildly funny. As for an original art film? -Pop psychology, extensive symbolism, intentional camp, and sets that imitate German expressionism have already been done...ad-nauseum. What might be considered original here is that the director chose to parody the style and mood of an old German mountain climbing film. Frankly I've never watched an entire one of these but let it be clear that German mountain climbing films are extremely esoteric - so who is Careful made for...15 people? The most preposterous thing is that the guys that made the very goofy Careful thought so much of themselves that they had the nerve to make fun of someone else's film. I'd recommend Careful for art students, but why? When you can still see all the original films that Careful imitates. Without being able to recommend Careful to anyone - Id still give Careful four stars in that - the techinical people such as set designers, photographers, film and sound editors were obviously meticulous about there craft. Also that the producers and the director had the nerve, talent, gall or perseverance to capture their warped vision on celluloid in the 1990s. But I take away 2 stars for being monotonous, dull and one more of thousands of pretentious, blurry, out of focus art films. By the way - did I read the end credits right? Is this the kind of thing Canadians are spending their tax dollars on?

The quality of the film stock, sound and extras provided by Kino Video are excellent.