My Winnipeg Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

My Winnipeg Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 30, 2015

Winner of Best Canadian Feature Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; filmed conversation between the Canadian director and art critic Robert Enright; four cine-essays on Winnipegiana; short films; and more. The release also comes with an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Wayne Koestenbaum's essay "My Guy's Winnipeg". In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Golden Boy

The entire film looks and feels like an unusually long dream. It frequently slows down and large black shadows blur the visuals; light almost completely disappears. Then a series of brighter visuals would restore balance and make it easy to see again. The film has a rhythm, but it seems impossible to comprehend its patterns.

There are a few splashes of color, but they seem awkwardly intense, at times even unnatural. Black, white and variations of nuanced grays are the prominent colors.

The voice behind the camera quietly explains that the visuals are from Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city of sleepwalkers. As the camera moves deeper into Winnipeg, it becomes clearer why -- there is too much snow and the cold is almost unbearable. Here, the voice explains, people have a hard time staying awake.

As the film progresses, past and present frequently overlap. The voice explains how years ago a group of women gathered to defend the most famous tree in Winnipeg, the Wolseley Elm, and how a shadow figure dynamited it. In the beginning of the last century, Winnipeg had its first general strike. It was a glorious moment, the voice insists, because it was one of the few times in Winnipeg’s history when its residents were fully awake.

Despite the depressing winter weather, Winnipeg quickly grew bigger. In the heart of the city many old buildings were replaced with new buildings and then the railway system was expanded. When eventually Winnipeg’s legendary hockey arena was destroyed, a big part of its character was lost. Some Winnipeggers even felt as if they had lost a family member.

Today Winnipeg looks uncharacteristically sad -- or so the voice insists. The biggest symbol of its sadness is the Arlington Street Bridge, which arches over the city’s train yards. The bridge should have found a home in Egypt, near the Nile, but more than 100 years ago one of its designers apparently made a crucial mistake and its owners sold it at a bargain price to bargain-crazy Winnipeg. Since then, like the local sleepwalkers the bridge has rarely been fully awake -- possibly because it, too, cannot stop dreaming beautiful dreams.

Modern Winnipeg is still growing, but the voice explains that most Winnipeggers are no longer interested in the changes. They are just adding to the sadness, making it even easier for them to remain anonymous and get lost in the shadows. Maybe if foreign troops -- how about 5000 Nazi soldiers from the year 1942 -- invaded Winnipeg and declared martial law, some Winnipeggers will rise to defend their city and their freedom. A colossal buffalo stampede might do the trick as well, but even the kids in this sad city know that there aren’t enough of them left to do the damage.

So what does the future hold for Winnipeg?

According to the voice behind the camera, two things are absolutely certain: more cold and snow. Almost certainly more dreaming for Winnipeggers as well, the type of dreaming that temporarily makes them imagine their city as the place it never was and the place it never will be.

My Winnipeg Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Supervised by director Guy Maddin and director of photography Jody Shapiro, this new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit DataCine film scanner from a 35mm interpositive. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original digital audio master files. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube's integrated workstation, and iZotope RX 4.

Transfer supervisors: Guy Maddin, Jody Shapiro.
Colorist: Colin Moore/Technicolor, Toronto."

Because there is footage and content from a variety of different sources -- there is standard-definition content, video content and even archival stills and photographs -- detail, clarity and image depth constantly fluctuate. Contrast levels also fluctuate, but in addition to the native fluctuations there are different stylistic enhancements. The bulk of the content is in black and white, but there is also some color footage. Unless there are stylistic enhancements, color identities are not altered. Overall image stability is excellent, but because at its core My Winnipeg is a documentary project there are some inherited jumps, cuts, and basic transition issues. Finally, there are no serious encoding or compression anomalies to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access is content).

My Winnipeg Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The film does not have a prominent score, but light background music continuously compliments the narration. Overall dynamic intensity is quite limited, but random sounds and noises (such as the strong wind blowing somewhere in the back) are very well defined. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in this review.

My Winnipeg Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Guy Maddin and Robert Enright - in this filmed conversation, director Guy Maddin and art critic Robert Enright discuss the production history of My Winnipeg, its unusual structure and rhythm, the relationship between fantasy and reality, some of the most popular myths and half-truths about Winnipeg, some of the critical reactions to the film, etc. The conversation was filmed exclusively for Criterion at the Canadian director's home in Winnipeg in October 2014. In English, not subtitled. (53 min, 1080p).

• Cine-Essays - presented here are four cine-essays on Winnipegiana created by filmmaker Evan Johnson and director Guy Maddin in 2014. Also included is a text-format description by the Canadian director.
  
  1. Puberty. In English, not subtitled. Color. (2 min, 1080p).
  2. Colours. In English, not subtitled. Color. (2 min, 1080p).
  3. Elms. In English, not subtitled. Color. (3 min, 1080p).
  4. Cold. In English, not subtitled. Color. (4 min, 1080p).

• "My Winnipeg" Live in Toronto - presented here is an archival featurette with footage from the June 18th, 2008 screening of My Winnipeg at the Royal Cinema in Toronto. During the screening, Guy Maddin provided live narration. In English, not subtitled. (9 min, 1080i).

• Spanky: To the Pier and Back (2008) - in this short film, Guy Maddin pays homage to a pug named Spanky. Also included is a short introduction by the Canadian director.
  
  1. Introduction. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).
  2. Short Film. Music only. (4 min, 1080p).

• Sinclair (2010) - this short film by Guy Maddin is excerpted from a film he created in 2010 for the opening of the Toronto International Film Festival's Bell Lightbox building. Also included is a short introduction by the Canadian director.
  
  1. Introduction. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).
  2. Short Film. Sound effects only. (5 min, 1080p).

• Only Dream Things (2012) - Guy Maddin directed this twenty-minute short as part of an installation at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for its centennial in 2012. Also included is a short introduction by the Canadian director.
  
  1. Introduction. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).
  2. Short Film. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).

• The Hall Runner (2014) - a short film narrated by Guy Maddin. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Louis Riel for Dinner (2014) - a short film narrated by Guy Maddin. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Trailer - original IFC Films trailer for My Winnipeg. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Wayne Koestenbaum's essay "My Guy's Winnipeg". (The author is a poet, cultural critic, and Distinguished Professor of English at the City University of New York's Graduate Center).

My Winnipeg Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is impossible to accurately describe Canadian director Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg with simple words. It blends fantasy and reality in a way that makes his home town look as strange and eerie as Los Angeles does in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, but there is so much more in it that will captivate your attention and stretch the boundaries of your imagination. See this film late at night and I guarantee you will have a terrific time with it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.