Careful

1992 movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: In the fictional mountain town Tolzbad, residents live in relaxed but constant fear of avalanches. They cover their windows in sheepskin, cut the vocal chords of livestock, and do anything else to prevent any disturbance of the snows. Within Tolzbad lives a mother with her three children, two who are in training to become butlers and one who sits mutely in the attic and occasionally converses with the ghost of his father. That father, an unfortunate soul who lost one eye as a baby when his face was too close to a pin and the other as an adult when he got too close to a cuckoo clock, tries to warn the mute son about the incestuous dreams of his recently-engaged brother and the murderous plans of the other. Love trapezoids!

Man, I love this guy (pun intended). Again, the voice of this Guy Maddin-directed surrealist funk rings loudly and clearly. Still referencing silent films--especially German oddball expressionist stuff with the paper-background sets and facial close-ups and camera angles--this one is in color (albeit it's this weird fuzzy colors, hand-tinted and grainy) and the characters speak. It's a darkly comic visual feast. At the same time, there's this almost agonizing detachment. It's so otherworldly, so blatantly like anything you've ever seen before while at the same time reminding you of so many other things, that it's almost an uncomfortable movie experience. It's almost like you're watching one of David Lynch's nightmares. Which is fine because uncomfortable movie experiences are my favorite movie experiences. Definitely put this in the "not for very many people" category.