The Good, The Bad and The Critic

Established on March 19th, 2012 and pioneered by film fanatic Michael J. Carlisle. The Good, The Bad and The Critic will analyze classic and contemporary films from all corners of the globe. This title references Sergei Leone's influential spaghetti western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Mynarski Death Plummet (2014) Review

Title: Mynarski Death Plummet
Year: 2014
Director: Matthew Rankin
Country: Canada 
Language: N/A 
In my view, the most interesting "new" director on the scene has to be Matthew Rankin. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba,Canada he is an expirimental filmmaker that, judging from his short films, social media, and website (http://www.rankino.com) has an eclectic taste for the strange. In addition to being nominated for several awards, his film Tesla World Light (2017) won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Short Film at the17th Jutra Awards. 

Mynarski Death Plummer (2014) is an avant garde film about the last few minutes about the life of Winnipeg's World War Two hero Andrew Mynarski. 

Rankin's short film is both innovative and familiar (to cinephiles). It has the aesthetic of a Dziga Vertov (Man With a Movie Camera) mixed with the immersive emotive storytelling of Douglas Sirk. Using a combination of trippy animation and camerawork reminiscent of the silent era, Rankin gives Mynarski immortality; making the hero's sacrifice a spectacle to behold. 

Though only 8 minutes long, Mynarski Death Plummet hits you in the gut as it overloads your senses. Its a positively overwhelming, undeniably great film experience that seeks to put its audience beyond the norm of cinema. A visual feast, I found myself in awe of Rankin's psychadelic war-time spectacle. 

Rankin's short film was so enticing that I had to watch it five times in a row. It floored me. It is such a remarkable tribute to a hometown hero. For those attending the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, I must advise you to see Rankin's first feature length film The Twentieth Century. I feel like eventually, 5-10 years from now,  people will be using the term Rankin-esque to refer to weird Canadian pictures.



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