(Originally written July 11, 2008)

This is one of the most engrossing films I’ve ever seen (and one of the most difficult to follow). Guy Maddin’s latest film is a sort of dream, full of scattered thoughts and memories about the hometown of the filmmaker. As the character in the film is on a train to leave his hometown, he finds that his memories make him unable to escape. The movie combines reenacted personal memories, historical anecdotes about Winnipeg and surrealistic imagery. The line between fiction and fantasy is blurred, and what results is a hypnotic portrait of a place that is deeply personal, nostalgic and often bittersweet. The strength of the movie is not content but rather the ability of images and sound to evoke emotions. Although I think I’ll need to revisit this film at some point to completely absorb all it has to offer, this movie is one of the few films I can say I truly “experienced.”