My Winnipeg Review- by Michael Carlisle

Title: My Winnipeg

Year: 2007
Director: Guy Maddin
Country: Canada
Language: English  

Being raised in Winnipeg I can tell you that it is both a magical and quite boring place. The slurpee capital of the world, the murder capital of Canada (though there’s less murders that the peace capital of the U.S) and the coldest major city in the World. You’d have to be quite the champ to live here year after year, knowing that when winter comes it’s going to get really hard to get around whether you have a car or not. Indeed a lot of people in Winnipeg take Winnipeg for granted, like the character in My Winnipeg they wish to leave this city forever. Perhaps because they think nothing great can come out of the city, which is not true, we have spawned many great people such as The Guess Who, Chris Jericho, Neil Young and of course, Guy Maddin. Many people are unaware of the great history of this remarkable city, which is a shame but this is one of the reasons Maddin decided to make this film. How do these people wish to leave Winnipeg?  By becoming the best in whatever their field is and making a lot of money of course. Some wish to sing their way out, others would like to educate themselves out, Maddin’s character thinks he can film his way out.

Maddin’s films are not that easy to find. It is very unlikely that you’ll be able to download them off a torrent site, or find them at your local theatre. However, if you search and eventually do find his films  I recommend watching the hell out of them. Absorb as much as you can, for all Maddin’s films are a unique treat that will surely stir the soul and inspire limitless creativity. My Winnipeg is a film where Maddin’s limitless creativity and boundless imagination thrives. He uses the editing techniques of old films, recycled news footage, shock cutting, startling camera shots, melodramatic acting & re-introduction of the iris shot to modern cinema to create a dreamlike portrait of our hometown Winnipeg.  Maddin re-writes Winnipeg history, and then creates more with his mind. My Winnipeg truely transcends the genre of documentary.

1955-2004

Coined as the “mad poet of Manitoba” Maddin has always loved his hometown Winnipeg, yet as things have changed throughout history he has become more disappointed  with it, like a mother whose son decides to quit school and become a drug dealer. My Winnipeg is indeed Guy Maddin’s love story, but like all good love stories there must be a great degree of drama, tragedy and mental separation. He expresses great anger at the fact that the beloved Winnipeg Arena was torn down after the decision to disband from the National Hockey League, which strangely we re-joined in 2011, the only colour footage in this film is when the arena is torn down. Maddin claims that he has fond memories of it because he was born in the women’s locker room, perhaps this is fiction, but how could we prove that it’s false? Personally, I don’t have as much fond memories of it, the washrooms were hard to find and you had to be in troughs lined on the floor, such an odd place.

The unique aspect of the film is that it blends fact with fiction and makes it impossible to tell the difference because often the fact is stranger than fiction. For instance, there is a segment in the film in which Maddin discusses the séances at the Legislative Building. He builds it as nightmare-ish and satanic all the while showing almost hallucinary imagery. You would think this part of the film would be false, why would government officials join in on something so cult-like? Then you do some research and you become startled to find out that this is truth. Maddin points out a lot of “facts” that seem impossible to believe, yet you have to be wary, because he will also trick you with fiction. This kind of “documentary” filmmaking is in a class of its own.

In conclusion, any review about Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg will fail to give you an idea of the magic within this film. I could sit and write pages and pages about how good the film is but it wouldn’t suffice. This is a film beyond words and beyond the realm of documentary filmmaking. It changes the way we think about Cinema, it will change the way you think about history. An innovation  in every sense of the word. Watch it! You will surely be pleased at Maddin’s ode to his beloved city.  Praise it! 5/5