| Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini,
Maria de Medeiros, David Fox, Ross McMillan.
Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin directs The Saddest Music in the
World, reworked from an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set
in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, the film involves a contest
announced by the legless and glamorous Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella
Rossellini) to find the saddest music in the world. She's hoping
the contest will result in increased sales of her company's brand
of beer. American theatrical producer Chester Kent (Mark McKinney)
shows up to win the contest with his kooky show-business idea, while
brother Roderick Kent (Ross McMillan) returns from the war. Maria
de Medeiros plays Narcissa, a sleep walker romantically linked to
both brothers. Their father, the alcoholic doctor Fyodor Kent (David
Fox), is tortured by his role in Lady Port-Huntly's leg amputation,
so he makes her a new glass pair filled with beer. The Saddest Music
in the World was shown at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. |