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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Cowards Bend the Knee
Universal acclaim
Based on 10 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Romance
Written by: Guy Maddin
Directed by: Guy Maddin
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 11, 2004
DVD: September 20, 2005
Running Time: 60 minutes, B/W
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Darcy Fehr, Melissa Dionisio, Amy Stewart, Tara Birtwhistle, Louis Negin, Mike Bell, David Stuart Evans, and Henry Mogatas
A 10-part penny dreadful, a peepshow melodrama, loosely conceived around the filmmaker's autobiography, with an aesthetic that is one part "Vampire" serial, one part psycho fever-dream. (Film Forum)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Brand Upon the Brain! Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary The Saddest Music in the World
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Village Voice J. Hoberman
What's truly extraordinary about this movie--which strikes me on two viewings as Maddin's masterpiece--is that it not only plays like a dream but feels like one.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
It's said to be an autobiography, but that pertains only in the loosest sense. It's a comedy. It's a 1920s silent movie. It is practically indescribable. And it is pure genius.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
There's a new visual idea every second, each teeming with energy, pitch-dark comedy, and inspired cinematic lunacy.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
There is also something rather splendid about this extended-play peep show, as if Mr. Maddin had stumbled across a hitherto lost archive of cinema's less-than-innocent past. What makes all this nostalgia for a movie history that never happened is that, as is always the case with Mr. Maddin's work, it's executed with more love than irony and not a whit of derision.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Abortion, incest, infidelity, revenge, and hockey collide at a fever pitch, juxtaposed with such frantic energy that they're pushed to the level of high comedy, funniest at its most dramatic.
Read Full Review >Variety Ronnie Scheib
Ultimately, psychotically inventive pic is a formidable addition to the ever-evolving Maddin oeuvre.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
The results are always visually arresting, while the narrative, even by Maddin standards, is completely out in the ozone.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Oddly, once removed from the museum setting and strung together into an hourlong feature, it's Maddin's most cohesive narrative.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
If you're a fan of Maddin's expressionist style, you'll find the humor within. Everyone else will be scratching their heads, despite Maddin's extraordinary visual imagination.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The overall feel is phantasmagoric--pitched, like most of Maddin's work, in the style of a half-remembered late silent feature or early talkie.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.8 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chris B gave it a0:
Maybe the critics from the Village Voice, New York Daily News, etc. find "Cowards Bend the Knee" new and interesting, but as a former Toronto art school student let me assure you it isn't. Every student art film in Toronto is a combination of two or more of the ingredients that Maddin uses; grainy black and white film stock, unnecessary nudity, emotionally uncomfortable scenes, and stilted acting. Just because it's boring and uncomfortable doesn't make it good.
John D. gave it a4:
I clearly agree that the director is quite talented and his talent for handling images shows. However, after about 10 minutes I was bored and stayed that way for the full hour. It was a long hour. I just can't recommend this to anyone.
Triko D. gave it a0:
This is exactly what I've known all along. The movie critics are actually theater critics who sleep with William Shakespeare under the pillow. Those critics who somehow made this movie to get over 80points don't really know why they're movie critics and out of bitterness try to fool everyone by giving a crack-addicts picasso-rape good points. Just because "simpletons" can't argue with critics-higher knowledge. They naturally know art where they see it. From here on out, I'll just read the "amateur" comments since they're obviously more realibable than a critic lying to pay his rent.
John S gave it a10:
If you are looking for mainstream mindless formulaic predicable and familiar, don't rent this movie. It is a true piece of original art. It is hyponotic and brilliniant, and even profound in points. But mostly its a fun experiment that works on all levels. I liked it more than "Saddest Music" too. But these movies should come with warnings. "If you are really concrete minded, you should rent something else. Stick to mainstream Hollywood products."
[Anonymous] gave it a5:
I can honestly understand people hating this film. But I will only refund 1 hour of life per viewer... considering that is how long the movie is.
John K. gave it a0:
Pretentious rubbish. I agree with Lisa although I didn't wait for the end.
Lisa M gave it a 0:
I want the two hours of my life back.
