In trying to persuade friends and family to join you in watching Guy Maddin’s deliriously weird comedy-melodrama-musical, it’s probably best to tell them it’s about a competition to find the ultimate sob-inducing songs — and leave it that. They might be less receptive if they were to find out that one of the film’s main characters is a double amputee who regains the ability to walk after she is outfitted with a pair of beer-filled-glass legs. And certainly don’t mention that it’s shot like most of Maddin’s other films: a soft-focus monochrome that occasionally drops audio sync — a curiously engaging “retro” effect achieved by cinematographer Luc Montpellier. No, it’s best to toss them in the deep end of the pool and let them discover for themselves if they will become fans of one of the truly original minds in contemporary cinema.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6S6TPVLuYw]