Rating: ****
So far as Guy Maddin movies go, Keyhole
is almost comprehendible, which despite the artistry and skill of the film is
still kind of a disappointment because if there’s one thing you never want to
be able to do in a Guy Maddin movie, it’s follow along. You see, a Maddin movie
is one of those experiences where you want to leave the theatre and ask
somebody what they thought and nod knowingly as if what he’s describing is
exactly the same thing you think you saw and you don’t want to look like an
idiot.
Keyhole is a
stream on consciousness movie. It’s about life and death, and secrets and lies,
and regrets and reconsiderations. Taking place entirely in an ethereal plain
made up to look like your typical North American home. The various players
appear to be an assortment of characters from the 1930s, gangsters mostly, hold
up in a house during a police siege. It’s the end of the line, but the boss
Ulysses does not want to fight his way out, rather there’s something he needs
to accomplish in the house before the eventual raid.
Of course, that’s the straight-ahead,
almost myopic perception of what the film’s all about. Being how this is a Guy
Maddin film there’s layer upon layer of subtext, but there’s still this nagging
bit about how I could follow along with the story. Where was the confusion? The
bewilderment? The befuddlement? You know, all the staples of a Maddin classic. There
was the black and white film, and odd moments of ghost falacio that remind you
what world you’re playing in. And then there’s the treatment of Winnipeg as a
Wonderland of an acid trip, which are all positive steps in the right
direction.
This also might be Maddin’s most
star-studded cast. Jason Patric plays Ulysses and throws himself into the world
of Maddin with tremendous gusto. Isabella Rossellini, a veteran of the worlds
of Maddin since The Saddest Music in the World, plays Ulysses’ wife
Hyacinth, who fills the film with emotion and mystery. The always reliably
creepy Udo Kier goes for daffy comedic, while former Kid in the Hall Kevin
McDonald puts in a brief but memorable role as the loose link in Ulysses’
chain.
But like past Maddin films, Keyhole is
a marvel of economy. Almost performed exclusively on the single, though
complex, set of Ulysses’ house, Maddin makes the whole thing come alive thanks
to the energetic performance of the cast, light camera work, and Spartan art
direction. In other words, the house comes alive with both ghosts and memories;
feeling that’s both nostalgic and visceral.
Walking out of the theatre, you realize
that your head doesn’t have that usual ringing that a Guy Maddin film leaves
you with, but that’s not to say that there wasn’t a lot to think about. There’s
a surprisingly haunted quality that washes over you, and that’s despite the
fact that there’s little on the surface to tie your personal experiences to the
narrative and the tremendous comedy Maddin infuses the film with. Still, it’s a
little nag, and that’s Maddin’s great gift, to smack you in the face with so much
emotion, and so many visuals you don’t know what to believe anymore. Bravo sir.
