by MATTHEW HAYS

It has been said that it is impossible to imagine the Canadian movie landscape without considering the legacy of David Cronenberg. I would add to that list - if it hasn't already been done - Winnipeg-based director Guy Maddin, whose The Saddest Music in the World is the latest entry in his singular-vision oeuvre.

Emanating from a place we've perhaps all dismissed as simply banal - Winnipeg, Manitoba - Saddest Music has two long-feuding brothers continue to stew in a nasty age-old rivalry. Kid in the Hall Mark McKinney is a frustrated Hollywood producer while Ross McMillan is a cellist devastated by the disappearance of his wife. Isabella Rossellini, Maddin's casting coup here and the heart of the film, plays a wealthy beer company owner who, years earlier, lost both her legs in a mysterious accident (an accident that is explained in hilarious flashback). To help push the sales of her brew during the Depression of the dirty '30s, Rossellini chooses to hold an international competition for the saddest music in the world. Amid the insanity of the buildup to the forthcoming competition, McKinney and Rossellini flirt with the possibility of reuniting after years of separation.

The Saddest Music in the World is a perfect synthesis of what Maddin has done so well in previous films. This is, by far, his best work, full of ludicrous twists and absurd dialogue, a film that demands multiple viewings. In a sense, this film is as self-conscious, visionary and formally challenging as Lars von Trier's latest, Dogville. And Maddin's style is magnificently unique, one that's staunchly upbeat despite its distinct streak of pessimism.

This is the filmmaker's finest achievement, for sure. With Music, Maddin has given Rossellini her best role since Blue Velvet, created a cryptic yet entirely engaging work and become the toast of the New York arthouse-movie scene. Not too shabby, for an experimental filmmaker from the Canadian prairies.

The Saddest Music in the World opens Friday, April 30

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