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Framed by a character called Marv (Louis Negin) explaining how to properly take a bath, a plethora of stories unfold about a woodsman (Roy Dupuis) mysteriously appearing on board a doomed submarine that has almost used up its air supply but can't go up to the surface because the pressure drop would explode its cargo. Thing is, the captain (Noel Burton) has gone mysteriously missing. But where did the woodsman come from? All he knows he was just up in the mountains trying to save lovely Margot (Clara Furey) from a gang of robbers called the Red Wolves. But she has somehow become their mascot and flees into dreamworlds where she is safe from them, including one where she's a nightclub singer and has a lover. However, her dream worlds get out of hand, and soon there are numerous subplots, from a murder mystery about a man (Mathieu Amalric) killing his butler (Udo Kier) to a horror story about a man changing into a monster thanks to the Janus-bust he bought and now going after his doppelganger, from exotica about a native tribe sacrificing people to their volcano to medical science fiction stories about weird brain surgery and the curing of broken bones ...

Above synopsis can't even begin to do The Forbidden Room justice, as probably none could, the film is actually totally erratic, with its stories bleeding into one another, sharing actors (sometimes in the same roles, sometimes in different ones), its stories interrupting one another and bringing them to a stop, stories starting (or ending) in their own middle and revolving around invariably intentional plotholes. All this though works totally in the film's favour, and is only heightened by Guy Maddin's trademark directorial style with many references to silent and early sound cinema, tons of intentionally crude special effects, visuals often reminiscent of pulp comics and pulp magazine covers, and less than convincing backdrops and matte shots - and all this makes up for one insane cinematic experience that's weird even by Maddin's own standards (and his body of work is riddled with weirdness). But what makes this movie really great - it's incredibly funny, doesn't take itself seriously for one minute, but stays away from being predictable or moronic but opts for a totally surreal kind of humour - and succeeds gloriously in this. Pretty much a must-see!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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