78
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittA deliciously weirded-out picture by Guy Maddin, a deliciously weirded-out Canadian filmmaker.
- 91Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumHard to say who's luckier -- those who have seen the work of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin before and know what to expect, or those who haven't and for whom The Saddest Music in the World serves as an eye-popping introduction.
- 80TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissIn a movie age when there's hardly a garde, let alone an avant-garde, Maddin proves there are many languages to cinema, including the dead one of antique film. And in that language, he sings, he soars.
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanBecause everything is funny and nothing provides a punchline, audiences may be too shell-shocked to laugh--you know you're in Maddinville when individual cackles detonate at unexpected intervals.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThis exercise in style and tongue-in-cheek melodrama from Canada's iconoclastic Guy Maddin will be lionized by admirers for its audacity, but will wear thin for many audience members, who will find it tedious and repetitive.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerToo much of this fantasy is filled out with artsy folderol, but it's a movie like no other--except, maybe, one by Guy Maddin.
- 70VarietyDavid RooneyVarietyDavid RooneyAlmost as much an art piece as a film, this playful Prohibition-era tale is visually inventive and initially amusing but, at feature length, becomes somewhat wearing in its cacophonous eccentricity.
- 70The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasMaddin films have a higher rate of invention per frame than the majority of his peers can muster.
- 70TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxYou won't see anything quite like it from any other filmmaker working today.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatInsanely inventive and brimming with exceptional performances, The Saddest Music in the World is as audacious as it is entertaining.