Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
87%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: 3 nominations
Brand Upon the Brain! is a cinematic fever dream that will leave you questioning your own sanity. Guy Maddin’s unique style of filmmaking is not for the faint of heart, but for those who dare to enter his world, they will be rewarded with a visually and aurally stunning experience. Maddin’s use of flickery symbolism and frenetically edited silent-movie models creates a bizarre bildungsroman cum scare flick that is both preposterous and oddly affecting. Isabella Rossellini’s narration and Jason Staczek’s superb score enhance the intense emotions that feel painful and personal. This Freudian vampire film is not just weird, it’s wonderfully weird, and it’s a must-see for those who like their cinema strange and different.
Brand Upon the Brain! is a wild ride that’s not for the faint of heart. It’s like a fever dream that you can’t quite shake off, but in the best way possible. The visuals and score are stunning, and the story is both preposterous and oddly affecting. It’s definitely not your average movie, but if you’re looking for something strange and different, this is the one for you. Just be prepared to enter the wonderfully weird world of Guy Maddin.
Production Company(ies)
Alexander Nanau Production, Samsa Film, HBO Europe,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Seattle, Washington, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2008
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Aug 12, 2008
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring David Armo, Isabella Rossellini, Sullivan Brown, Maya Lawson, Katherine E Scharhon, Andrew Loviska, directed by Guy Maddin, written by Guy Maddin, George Toles, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Kenneth Turan, John Monaghan, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Ty Burr, Ruthe Stein, Carrie Rickey, David Lamble, Dorothy Woodend, Leonard Klady, Lawrence Levi, Gerald Peary, Amy Jacobson, Gregg Lachow, MPAA rating, lighthouse, orphanage, childhood home, Canadian island, bizarre, heartfelt sincerity, unique cinematic experience, loopiest, inspired, flickery symbolism, painful, personal, Freudian vampire film, bildungsroman, scare flick, German expressionism
Worldwide gross: $298,982
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $411,836
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,786
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 44,911
US/Canada gross: $263,200
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $362,548
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,416
US/Canada opening weekend: $46,412
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $63,931
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,118
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Isabella Rossellini – Narrator
Sullivan Brown – Young Guy Maddin
Maya Lawson – Sis
Katherine E. Scharhon – Chance Hale/Wendy Hale
Andrew Loviska – Savage Tom
Director(s)
Guy Maddin
Writer(s)
Guy Maddin, George Toles
Producer(s)
Amy Jacobson, Gregg Lachow
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
3 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (58) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (5)
The director’s form of genial cinematic dementia is guaranteed not to be to all tastes at all times, but those who are looking for something strange and different will feel right at home.
October 17, 2014
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
For me it captures Maddin at his loopiest and most inspired.
July 27, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
Narrated by Isabella Rossellini and enhanced by Jason Staczek’s superb score, this is characteristically intense and, unlike most of Maddin’s silent-movie models, frenetically edited.
July 13, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
No matter how much the director disguises the tale in flickery symbolism, the emotions feel painful and personal.
June 29, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Brand Upon the Brain! is like no other movie you’re likely to see this year — or any other year. It won’t be to everyone’s taste. But for those who like their cinema weird, it doesn’t get any weirder or more oddly fascinating than this.
June 15, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
… a feverishly imaginative Freudian vampire film …
June 15, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
One of the best things about Brand Upon the Brain! is that it doesn’t set off that dreaded snooze alarm…
May 21, 2020
David Lamble
Bay Area Reporter
It’s a little spastic, a little dreamy, terribly demented. . .not unlike the director himself. It’s also visually and aurally stunning.
August 23, 2017
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
It is breathlessly preposterous at times but stays clear of arch parody, allowing audiences to be unabashedly part of the antics.
October 17, 2014
Leonard Klady
Screen International
It’s a bizarre bildungsroman cum scare flick, with Mom as the chief villain — Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate by way of Psycho. And like so many of Maddin’s films, it’s oddly and uniquely affecting.
October 17, 2014
Lawrence Levi
Stop Smiling
Pretty darned good.
October 17, 2014
Gerald Peary
Boston Phoenix
[Maddin] taps a rich vein in this highly memorable and frequently disturbing homage to lost innocence and German expressionism.
October 17, 2014 | Rating: 3/5
Katherine Monk
Canada.com…
Plot
A man returns to his childhood home on an abandoned Canadian island to paint a lighthouse that his parents used as an orphanage, in the bizarre and unique cinematic experience that is Brand Upon the Brain!
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Isabella Rossellini narrates the film.
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