Careful movie storyline. In the Alpine village of Tolzbad in the 1800s, the townsfolk talk quietly and restrain their movements lest they incur avalanches. This atmosphere lends itself to repressed emotions – shown through the parallel stories of butler student Johann lusting after his mother (an old flame of the mysterious Count Knotkers) and Klara’s attraction to her father (who lusts after his other daughter), leading to duels and suicidal plunges galore. All this is shot in the style of an early German sonal film, complete with intertitles, crackly sound-track and ‘hand-tinted’ colour effects.
Careful (1992) is the third feature film directed by Guy Maddin. It is Maddin’s first colour film, shot on 16mm for a budget of $1.1 million. At one point, Martin Scorsese had agreed to act in the film, as Count Knotkers, but bowed out to complete Cape Fear. Maddin pursued casting hockey star Bobby Hull, but ended up casting Paul Cox.
Careful premiered at the New York Film Festival and, although it was not a commercial success elsewhere, “single-handedly saved a struggling art-house cinema in Missoula, Montana” where “sell-out crowds had filled the house twice every night for two weeks.”
Careful (1993)
Directed by: Guy Maddin
Starring: Kyle McCulloch, Gosia Dobrowolska, Sarah Neville, Paul Cox, Brent Neale, Michael O’Sullivan, Katya Gardner, Jackie Burroughs, Vince Rimmer, Alanna Van Buren
Screenplay by: Guy Maddin
Production Design by: Guy Maddin
Cinematography by: Guy Maddin
Film Editing by: Guy Maddin
Costume Design by: Donna Szöke
Art Direction by: Jeff Solylo
Music by: John McCulloch
Distributed by: Cinephile
Release Date: August 27, 1993
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