Careful

Director: Guy Maddin
Year Released: 1992
Rating: 3.0

Colorful (if ... cloudy) Maddin soap opera about three sons, their mother and a powerful Count in a town called Tolzbad - one son's in the attic, one son has feelings for Ma that are not exactly platonic and one's out to avenge his blind father's ghost. The usual emphasis is on form and style versus depth of content - it wouldn't be until a smidge later in Maddin's career that the autobiographical aspects would find their way into the movies, leaving this earlier effort clever if a little hollow. That he could make his movies so distinctive with such little money, a small crew and a warehouse makes Mr. Maddin a DIY mastermind; complaints against his actors for giving line readings or seemingly amateurish performances completely miss the point.