Guy Madden’s “The Saddest Music in the World” is one of the strangest films I’ve seen for a good long while. And to boot, it’s a musical. Set in Canada during the depression in a surreal nightmare-like (I was going to say “dream-like”) version of Winnipeg, this film is hard to watch but worth-while if you’re up for something very “art-house”. I dislike the term art-house; I don’t think it really means anything; but it conjures up the right connotations for this film. Stylistically it resembles a music video or a cartoon; at times it has the overwhelming creepy/uncomfortable feeling that I remember experiencing when I watched “Eraserhead”.
What’s it about? I don’t think I’ll be 100% on the money saying what a film like this is about after only one viewing. Sure, it’s set in the depression and involves a music competition (to find the saddest music in the world) to which punters travel from all over the world. But I think it’s an allegory (or a parable, or whatever you want to call it) about the USA, (globalisation?), power, greed, and decadence. And as you might guess, it’s not in favour of its subject matter.
I didn’t enjoy the film but I’d like to see it again. I would recommend it – but only if you’re into “that sort of thing”.