The Forbidden Room

The Forbidden Room from 2015 is an unusual and captivating film, somewhat challenging to describe due to its avant-garde structure and presentation. It effortlessly drifts between various interconnected stories that whimsically mutate, shift and melt into each other like a surreal dream—intangible yet palpably intriguing. Helmed by the visionary Canadian director Guy Maddin, co-director Evan Johnson, and casting renowned actors like Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, and others, the movie creates an unforgettable treatment that takes viewers on an abstract journey into the realms of visual storytelling.

One of the stories primarily revolves around the character of a submarine crew, played remarkably by Roy Dupuis and his team. They find themselves in a precarious position, trapped underwater with the oxygen supply rapidly ebbing, all while being haunted by the presence of a ghostly woodsman. The trajectory these characters take draws the viewer into an enigmatic and mesmerizing narrative that is both absurd and profound.

Interspersed with this primary plot are numerous off-shoot stories that seemingly bear no direct relation, but upon attentive viewing, reveal a thematic connection. These narrative splinters give way to a series of surreal, eccentric episodes ranging from a man obsessed with the derriere of his maid, a man schooling his pupil on how to take a perfect bath, a surgeon falling in love with a woman with a peculiar ailment, and many more.

These stories, while speaking to Maddin's signature style steeped in the aesthetics of silent-era and early talkies era cinema, create a hypnotic mosaic, threading disparate narratives through visceral visuals and surreal plot turns. Notably, actors frequently reincarnate into different roles, adding to the dreamy ambiance and mystifying unpredictability that permeates the film.

One of Clara Furey's characters embarks on a convoluted journey burdened by tragedy, where she encounters a jungle vampire known as 'The Red Wolf.' Amid the strange occurrences and mystifying psychological explorations, you can notice symbolic metaphors and critique of societal norms echoing throughout the storyline spotlighting her performance.

Louis Negin, a regular in Maddin's projects, features prominently throughout the film in various roles, providing an almost theatrical absurdism to the scenes he graces. His performances breathe life into aspects of the movie that dare to tread the line of grotesque and beautiful in an uncannily absorbing fashion. He embodies everything from a convolutedly enamored husband to a mythical guide through these tales within tales.

The Forbidden Room envelops viewers in a labyrinth of hallucinatory images and mind-bending narratives. It celebrates the peculiarities of human nature, highlights the jaunty imperfections of celluloid art, and guides us through a playful, nightmarish dreamscape that pays homage to lost cinematic genres.

What distinguishes The Forbidden Room from other films is not only its labyrinthine structure but also its unique visual style. The movie visibly carries Maddin's signature aesthetics. The use of double exposures, hyper-saturated colors, deliberately degraded footage, and dramatic intertitles emulates the look of distressed, decaying, and partially destroyed silent films. This manipulation of medium amplifies the myth-like quality each vignette carries, transforming the film into an immersive sensory experience.

Like a fever dream marrying cinema and poetry, The Forbidden Room stands out in the cinematic landscape. It glows with a certain dark grandeur, flamboyance, and voluptuous oddity, raising questions instead of offering clear-cut answers. It chooses the artistically unorthodox path of exploring the often eclipsed aspects of human emotions and thoughts, captivating audiences with its vivid and daringly inventive appeal.

To sum it up, The Forbidden Room is not typical cinema. It's an artistic exploration, a love letter to forgotten film genres, a surreal course in visual storytelling that blurs the boundaries of traditional narrative cinema. Guiding viewers through an unexpected labyrinth of tales and emotions, it spins an unforgettable experience for those who appreciate cinema's more avant-garde side. This movie is one that demands the audiences' open-minded attention and rewards it with a beautiful puzzle of humanity, artistry, and a touch of the bizarre.