last night's gig

Crispin Glover Shrieks Like a Woman at the Debut of ‘Brand Upon the Brain!’

Sullivan Brown as Young Guy Maddin in Brand upon the Brain!Photo by Adam L. Weintraub / Courtesy of the Film Company

The debut of Guy Maddin’s silent film Brand Upon the Brain! was a remarkable spectacle even when we weren’t watching the screen — which turned out to be quite often. Last night at the Village East Cinema, the movie was accompanied by a live soundtrack that included an eleven-piece orchestra; a castrato who gave voice to a lovestruck teenage girl; and three sound-effects artists in white lab coats, who splashed around in water during the boat scenes and fluffed wads of magnetic tape to mimic a walk through tall grass. If Maddin’s jittery, expressionist camera work confused the audience, Crispin Glover was on hand to explain what was going on. Sporting a neat Prince Valiant bob, he was tastefully restrained in his narration, letting loose a womanly shriek only when the script called for it.

Oh, and there was a movie too! It told the supposed story of Maddin’s childhood, complete with deranged parents, a pair of crime-fighting teens, and a lighthouse that doubled as an orphanage. Though the musical score shifted seamlessly between the melodrama’s moods, the live sound effects were occasionally distracting, in part because a few door slams were so poorly timed, they were almost comic. But maybe that was also part of its charm: As the Foley artists grabbed thick bunches of celery, how could we not wonder whether the story would end with the entire cast breaking their necks? —Lindsey Thomas

Crispin Glover Shrieks Like a Woman at the Debut of ‘Brand Upon the Brain!’