Storyline

Filmmaker Guy Maddin was born, raised and has always lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a town where he says everyone sleepwalks through life. He is trying to escape Winnipeg, but isn't sure how as he isn't sure what's kept him there in the first place. Perhaps his parent's month long 65th wedding anniversary celebration (despite his father being dead for some years) where he will reenact his childhood (with actors playing his family, except his mother who plays herself) in the old family home at 800 Ellis Avenue, which was above the family's hair salon business, will provide some answers. He recounts some civic events which have affected him and the life of Winnipegers: the 1919 general strike, the destruction of the Wolseley Elm in 1957, and the replacement of the iconic Eaton's building for the new hockey arena in favor of the old Winnipeg Arena. The latter has an especially close connection to him because of a family tie and the rich history of hockey in the city (discounting what he considers the failure of the NHL experiment). As he is on the train leaving the city, he hopes that the page 3 "Citizen Girl" will be the panacea for all Winnipeg's issues.—Huggo

Plot Keywords

homoeroticism, pet, photograph, self referential, shopping mall, snow, stampede, surrealism, vagina, video footage, winter, brother sister relationship, family relationships, male rear nudity, key, nudity, male objectification, 20th century, bare butt, black comedy

Short Review

More an abstract hallucination than a photo-realist portrait, My Winnipeg would be out of place on the "documentary" shelf at the video store. But it deserves prime placement in the Guy Maddin canon.

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership

2. Apple iTunes : Track Price: 4.99, Track Rental Price: 3.99, Collection Price: 4.99,