There are times when I haven't got anything witty to say about a film. I leave this one with the result of having seen something totally unique. I mean, put this one in a genre. Since I didn't really care if they ever found out what the saddest music in the world was (no matter what; it would be a disappointment), I found myself seeing a grouping of bizarre characters and enjoying them as if it were a kind of freak show. I don't even mean that in a judgmental sense. It had that David Lynch nightmare quality. Whatever transpired transpired. If one is looking for closure, I guess there is a kind of disastrous entropy here. Suffice it to say, when one has so much sadness, the movie becomes the saddest music in the world; life becomes the saddest music in the world. This is certainly worth a look. The cinematography is amazing and that's probably enough.

I find Guy Maddin a frustrating director. His films have an interesting visual style and some amusing ideas, yet I always find myself restless and bored, not because Maddin fails in what he's trying to do but because he succeeds at doing something I find unappealing.Saddest Music has a typical Maddin approach. The movie aims to create something akin to old films of the 20s and 30s. Not brilliant old movies like All Quiet on the Western Front or The Thin Man but bad old movies. This film purposely has inane dialog, hammy acting, jumpy editing and muddled visuals.Why? I suppose it's an art thing. Saddest Music basically plays like a rather pretentious student film that should be about 20 minutes long. At 20 minutes, this might be worth watching, but I cannot for the life of me understand how Maddin's films are successful enough for him to have a career.Still, Maddin makes films for people who like this sort of thing, so I'm not really qualified to judge, any more than I can judge the quality of gay porn or brain pudding. Like Saddest Music, these are things made for someone else entirely.

I think that it is one of my favorite films. The only reason why I even considered the idea of not giving maximum points for the movie was the fact that the movie contained alcohol propaganda :D I had no idea what the movie is about so at the beginning I was stunned and wondered if I entered the right room - the old-school style sure was surprising. As I had dug myself into the movie I was enchanted... It gently delt emotional and brutal violence. The action froze me - during the whole movie I felt this buzz in my head and incapability to decide if i should laugh or cry. I would say that in the center of the whole story is not the competition but the desperate need to feel sadness - all the main characters had experienced something traumatic that made them feel detached of the world and realistic valuation on emotions. I definitely recommend it to everybody who appreciates movies that are more than just plain amusement!

The Saddest Music In The World, is based on an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. The film is set in the 1930's in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada during the Great Depression. A beer baroness named Lady Port-Huntley, announces that she will be having a contest where people from countries all over the world will compete and play music and the country with the saddest music will win twenty five thousand dollars. An American named Chester Kent, who used to have a relationship with Lady Port-Huntley, wants to win the contest and plans to use the current girl he is with named Narcissa, as the singer. Chester's father is also entering the contest as is his brother Roderick, who thinks he can play a sad song seeing as his son had died several years ago and his wife left him. Soon, Roderick begins to believe that Narcissa, is his wife who left him. The only person who has never seemed to be affected by sadness is Chester. He saw his mom die as a child but has never cried in his life and has always been happy. But now he needs to find a way to write some sad songs to win the big prize. Winner of The Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at The Chlotrudis Awards, The DGC Craft Award for Outstanding Achievement In Production Design For A Feature Film at The Directors Guild of Canada, The Genie Award for Best Achievement In Costume Design, Best Achievement In Editing and Best Achievement In Music - Original Score at The Genie Awards and The Film Discovery Jury Award for Best Director (Guy Maddin, who also wrote the film's screenplay) at The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. The Saddest Music In The World, has good direction, a good adapted screenplay, good performances from everyone involved, good original music, good cinematography, good film editing, good production design, good set decoration, good costume design and good makeup. The Saddest Music In The World, is a great looking film. The film is in black and white and is grainy and made to look like a film made in the early 1900's and it really does (which may turn some viewers off). The actors also do a great job and all the people who worked behind the camera on the sets, costumes, makeup and cinematography should really be applauded. This is a really great looking film and is very well made. Other than being very impressed by the visuals and the way the film was made it really didn't do too much for me. The film is very offbeat and it has some very clever and sometimes brilliant scenes but the movie doesn't work as a whole. At times it gets confusing and pretty muddled and even boring at times. I liked what the film was trying to do and I think if it was a little more focused then it would have been a great film but the result we get is not. It's not a terrible film but I'am mostly rating it this high because of the film's visuals and the way it was made and not for the film itself.