THE SADDEST MUSIC
IN THE WORLD

Year: 2003
USA: IFC Films
UK: Soda Pictures
Cast: Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, Maria de Medeiros, David Fox, Ross McMillan, Darcy Fehr, Claude Dorge, Erik J Berg, Brent Neale
Director: Guy Maddin
Country: Canada
USA & UK: 99 mins
UK Certificate: 15 contains moderate sex and bloody moments
USA Release Date: 7 May 2004 (Limited Release - Los Angeles)
USA Release Date: 30 April 2004 (Limited Release - New York)
UK Release Date: 7 May 2004
US Distributor

Synopsis

THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD follows Chester Kent, a failed Broadway impresario, as he attempts to win a contest, held by the self-styled Queen of Beer, on the Prairie, to find the most tear-inducing tune on the planet.

1933: The Great Depression is in full black bloom. When failed Broadway impresario Chester Kent and his amnesiac girlfriend Narcissa return to Chester's hometown of Winnipeg, they find themselves in the middle of both a prickly family reunion and a chaotic contest held by the local brewery to find the saddest music in the world.

The brewery is headed by the bitter double-amputee and Queen of Beer on the Prairies, Lady Port-Huntly. Twisted relationships are soon laid bare: once upon a time Chester and Lady had been lovers, cuckolding Chester's father Fyodor in the process. All three were involved in an accident which led to the loss of both Lady's legs. And in the meantime, Chester's brother Roderick experienced problems of his own. His wife became gradually more vague and distant, finally running away altogether. But it doesn't take long for us to realize she is none other than Narcissa!

The three Kent men, musicians all, become bitterly embroiled in competition, this time for the twenty-five thousand dollar purse of Lady Port-Huntley's contest. A cataclysmic fire and the machinations of fate will soon sort matters out for our sad characters and the disconsolate denizens of the saddest city on earth, Winnipeg.