COWARDS BEND THE KNEE

Director Guy Maddin / 2004 / Canada
Cowards Bend the Knee Canada

'straight from the guilt mines of Guy Maddin's psyche to the collective unconscious of stunned audiences, Cowards Bend the Knee is film autobiography at its most hilariously creative.' -Variety

'sex! Voyeurism! Revenge! Ice-hockey! The scandalous confessions of Winnipeg's foremost filmmaker Guy Maddin form a story so shocking and lurid that previous audiences had to view its 10 chapters in a peepshow arcade, under the pretence that the whole sordid shebang was actually an 'art installation'. Now the peepholes have gone and there is nothing to stand between the viewer and Maddin's searing revelations, which come blazing onto the big-screen in all their silent, black-and-white, Super-8 glory. Actor Darcy Fehr bravely portrays the young, handsome Maddin, star player of the Winnipeg Maroons ice-hockey team, boyfriend of the beautiful Veronica and coward when it comes to any form of relationship. His inability to face adult responsibilities like a man leads him into a tangled plot involving a vengeful woman, mad doctors, hand transplants, strangulation and living waxworks... this is pure Maddin magic. Just don't expect to respect him in the morning.' -London Film Festival

D/S/WS Guy Maddin P Philip Monk TD Video/B&W/2003/63mins

Guy Maddin was born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1956. Films include: Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (MIFF 1998), The Saddest Music in the World (MIFF 2004).

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