The Saddest Music in the World is a 2003 Canadian film directed by Guy Maddin. It stars Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, Maria de Medeiros, David Fox and Ross McMillan.
| The Saddest Music in the World | |
|---|---|
| File:Saddest music.jpg Tagline: LOVE. POLITICS. BEER. | |
| Directed by | Guy Maddin |
| Written by | Original Story: Kazuo Ishiguro Screenplay: Guy Maddin George Toles |
| Produced by | Niv Fichman Daniel Iron Jody Shapiro Executive Producer Atom Egoyan |
| Starring | Isabella Rossellini Mark McKinney Maria de Medeiros David Fox Ross McMillan |
| Music by | Christopher Dedrick |
| Distributed by | IFC Films (US theatrical) MGM (North America DVD) |
Release dates |  Sep 07 2003 Oct 25 2003  Feb 14 2004 |
Running time | 99 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | CAD$3.5 million (estimated) |
Set in Winnipeg, Manitoba during the Great Depression, it is a comic musical about a competition announced by a beer magnate to find the saddest piece of music in the world.
Musicians from across the world come to Winnipeg to try their luck in the competition, but the contest eventually boils down to a battle within one family: a patriotic Canadian father and his expatriate sons, one of whom represents the United States, the other Serbia.
Style
Like most of Maddin's films, Saddest Music is filmed in a style that imitates late 1920s and early 1930s cinema, with grainy black and white photography, slightly out-of-sync sound and expressionist art design.
A few scenes are filmed in colour, in a manner that imitates early two-strip Technicolor.
Trivia
Guy Maddin and co-writer George Toles completely rewrote the original screenplay by Booker Prize winning author Kazuo Ishiguro. Ishiguro had set hsi story in a more recognizable 1980s London. Before Maddin's involvement, Atom Egoyan was at one time signed to direct, using Ishiguro's draft.
Awards and nominations
- Win: Outstanding Achievement in Production Design, Feature Film - Matthew Davies
- Nominated: Outstanding Achievement in Direction, Feature Film - Guy Maddin
- Nominated: Outstanding Achievement in Picture Editing, Feature Film - David Wharnsby
- Win: Best Achievement in Costume Design - Meg McMillan
- Win: Best Achievement in Editing - David Wharnsby
- Win: Best Achievement in Music, Original Score - Christopher Dedrick
- Nominated: Best Achievement in Direction - Guy Maddin
- Win: Film Discovery Jury Award, Best Director - Guy Maddin
External links
 | This article about a musical film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to Canadian film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |