My Winnipeg
You might be surprised at why I would watch random films. At the moment, there are more Netflix films going to expire again soon, and I am yet again contemplating what to see. Ultimately, most Netflix films are actually movies I don’t really want to see immediately. They’re just kind of interesting, or rather interesting enough to be added to my queue. Sometimes, or perhaps most of the times, when I actually bring myself to bring myself to watch one of those films, it’s a happy surprise.
“My Winnipeg” was definitely one of those. First of all, I was amazed at how he managed to make Winnipeg, an arguably terrible city, so interesting! More than anything else, the film is a love story to the city he grew up in, and I wish I was able to express my love for my own city that way. As a local patriotism “I love my city of birth” kind of film, “My Winnipeg” is absolutely unique and – I strongly believe that – unmatched in greatness. It just has everything: The city’s history, the author’s personal history with his city, lamentations about changes of the city… If I ever made a movie about Berlin, this is what I would want it to look like.
On Wikipedia, the film is described as “surrealist”. In fact, as a surrealist film in the veins of Bunuel, video installations and such, “My Winnipeg” has a lot of typical surrealist elements. Even a surrealist dance scene with Freemason was included! The whole film is described as a dream, with seemingly random scenes blended in, and white text on black screens, reminding me of Hitchcock and Godard. Style-wise, “My Winnipeg” is absolutely lovely. Considering that it is some sort of documentary, I was surprised at how suspenseful and funny the film was; considering that it is a surreal film, it is surprising how obvious the film’s political and cultural agenda is. Of course the biggest miracle is how a film can be a documentary and surreal at the same time.
I think “My Winnipeg” is one of those films that words cannot describe. It’s certainly not for everyone, but I really liked it.