Brand Upon The Brain! - The Criterion Collection (DVD)

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"Brand Upon the Brain!" is full of exclamation points beyond the intertitles, a treasure trove of joys for the obsessive cinephile. The film offers so many diversions and perversions it´s impossible to list them all. Here are a few: a cross-dressing teen detective, human sacrifice, and butter on the wall. Not to mention the aerophone. And the extraordinary musical score by Jason Staczek.

The rest awaits for your discovery if you dare to risk the adventure of "The Brand Upon the Brain!"

Video

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film is intentionally grainy, scratched and faded, so it´s hard to assess just how "good" this transfer is. It certainly looks like the film I saw twice in theaters, and I have no complaints about it at all.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional English subtitles support the English narration.

Extras

It´s quite a challenge to present this film on DVD since it was toured around the country with live foley work and multiple narrators. Criterion has done an admirable job preserving some of the chameleon essence of this film. You have option of listening to eight (I mean "Eight!") narration tracks, 3 of which were recorded in studio, and 5 of which were recorded from live performances. Your choices span the spectrum: Isabella Rossellini (both recorded and live), Guy Maddin, actor Louis Negin, Laurie Anderson, John Ahsbury, Crispin Glover (!), and Eli Wallach (!!!)

As a result, it´s difficult to figure out just how to watch "Brand Upon the Brain!" I recommend two strategies. First, pick your favorite narrator and stick with that the whole way through or listen to a different narrator for each of the twelve chapters, switching back and forth as you please.

This packed single disc also includes several other extras, the best of which is a Criterion-produced documentary called "97 Percent True" (50 min) in which Guy Maddin, writer George Toles, editor John Gurdebeke and others are interviewed. Maddin, often rather circumspect about his work, is unusually frank here and provides quite a bit of insight into his thinking. This is an excellent feature.

Guy Maddin makes some the best and funniest short films I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the two short films included here are not among them. "It´s My Mother´s Birthday" (5 min) is a short about castrato singer Dov Houle, the Manitoba Meadowlark who sang live at several of the film´s screenings. "Footsteps" (9 min) is a short about the Toronto-based foley company Footsteps who also performed live on the tour. They are both a joy to watch thanks to Maddin´s style but are surprisingly tame in content.

Finally there is a Deleted Scene (6 min.)

The slim insert booklet includes an essay by Dennis Lim.

Film Value

"Brand Upon the Brain!" is unique in yet another way. It is Guy Maddin´s first foreign film, shot in Seattle for the acting troupe The Film Company. Maddin was given a budget and free creative reign provided he used all Seattle actors in the film.

"Brand Upon the Brain!" is maddening, elusive, lyrical and unforgettable. In other words, it is quintessentially Guy Maddin. I rate it slightly behind his best work: "Archangel" (1990), "Cowards Bend the Knee" (2003), and "My Winnipeg" (2007) but I still love it like crazy.

Guy Maddin, like almost any worthwhile director, is an acquired taste. And one well worth acquiring because there is nobody else like him. Nobody!

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