jaredmobarak I have caught the Guy Maddin bug. And it is all My Dad is 100 Years Old's fault. Is Isabella Rossellini's love letter to her father overdone, pretentious, and unnecessary? Probably yes on all counts, however, none of that detracts from the achievement it also creates. Why film an interview, static and uninteresting, when you can hire an auteur to use his eye and add a flair for the dramatic? Cinema is about drawing the viewer in, right—to cause the audience to think, feel, and relate? What could have been a straightforward telling of a daughter's love and idolatry for her father instead becomes a short film displaying that which Isabella speaks. We see examples of Roberto's neo-realism and eye-level static framing, not to mention instances calling these techniques out, at the same time mocking Rossellini himself as well as the critics who uttered the remarks. You begin to understand the genius, stubbornness, and creativity of both filmmakers, Rossellini and Maddin, sowing the seeds to seek out more from both.You cannot help but think about David Lynch when watching the stark black and white, calling back to his older shorts. The sheer absurdity of Roberto Rossellini being played by another man's large belly just adds to the comparison, especially when coupled with the smoky fog, Isabella playing multiple cinematic greats, and the use of projections and camera tricks unpolished and out in the open. To go so far as to have her Chaplin speak through title-card shows the meticulous detail taken to create a true piece of art. And the scratchy appearance and jumpy framing only adds to it. Maddin isn't trying to mass-produce a piece that will be consumed by the public and bring in large sums of money. No, he has taken the time to tell the story of a past collaborator in Isabella and her feelings about her deceased father. Roberto was a loaming figure in cinema, directing some of the medium's greatest works, yet at the time beleaguered with criticism and close-minded mentalities of the craft. However, what is slow and laborious to some is calculated brilliance to others.Isabella was only 25 when her father passed on, only having acted in one film previously. Her father—and mother Ingrid Bergman of course—greatly shaped her career going forward. Having to endure the comments about and dismissal of his work, a man who she held as a genius and leader of the field, must have only strengthened her resolve to seek out cinema for what it could be and not what it "should" be. As her iterations of Selznick and Hitchcock say, the people like Hollywood, they like to be entertained. But, like is not the measure of right. One must look inside oneself to put forth work that is redeemable to him; therefore hoping it resonates with the public to become as well loved by them as it is by he. Looking at Isabella's filmography, you see someone who stuck to that creed, seeking out work that would challenge and make a difference, much like her father did with his films of what might have happened, not the neo-realist what did happen for which he was labeled. His camera choices and filming style were honed with a purpose, to see the world as it may have occurred, to try and understand what was happening around him.The amount of care put into this film by both Rossellini and Maddin cannot be questioned. Her script is heartfelt and poignant while still holding relevance to cineasts across the globe. To hear a firsthand account of a legend by living legend herself, not to mention the daughter of the subject, is an experience not to be taken lightly. This piece holds historical value, something I'm sure The Documentary Channel had in mind when financing it, but also contains merit on its own. Maddin weaves together images of the stomach with foggy veiled frames of Italy, footage from some of Roberto's films, and the bringing to life of cinema's finest. Complete with visual flourishes such as the gigantic projection of Bergman, played by Isabella, talking to Isabella, as well as the wonderful projected flying of Chaplin's angel, portrayed again by her, My Dad is 100 Years Old becomes a document of a filmmaker as well as a successful creation in its own rite. Maybe it goes overboard and maybe it is self-indulgent, but, honestly, I wouldn't mind watching it again right now.

MisterWhiplash I know Guy Maddin directed this short film, My Dad is 100 Years Old, but either acclaim or blame should be rest on Isabella Rossellini's shoulders for this. She knew what kind of picture this would be, and Maddin seems more like a hired hand here than a true visionary. And if anything, the vision of sorts is really distracting and unnecessary and is just really poorly done. I know the intentions are good, and if I had to rate just on intentions it would be much higher praising, albeit in such personal terms. Roberto Rossellini is a great filmmaker, one of the greatest that emerged once the smoke settled from World War 2 in Europe. And his films Open City and Paisan are films that should be rediscovered for years to come as technology overcomes the film industry (even if it's just in museums). But one of his daughter's, Isabella, hasn't done the greatest of tributes, from my perspective, with her My Dad is 100 Years Old short film.There isn't really anything coherent to the picture, which might have been acceptable had it been maybe more focused, so to speak. What I mean is the same pretension that she seems to be commenting on (although too little too late by the last shot when she calls for the camera to move in front of her directly in profile), and done with a very 'this is how it is' take on things. She makes fun of Fellini and Hitchcock (the latter in profile, the former played by her), as Rossellini himself- or the form of him as portrayed by a huge belly that Isabella recollects was what she remembers the most- rags on anything in cinema that doesn't address morality and the like. Only when Chaplin comes out- also again Rossellini herself playing her along with David O Selznik- does some praise come out. For a film that lasts only 15-17 minutes, it seems like it fills up its time much too smugly and with an air of content at being all over the place. It's interesting to see how the rest of the picture, with its obtuse camera angles and pompous style of editing and framing and dialog, compares with the few precious clips of Open City that are shown, and how more insight into the director is in those clips than in everything else his daughter shows.Now, in full disclosure, I do like Isabella Rossellini a lot, as an actress, and she is a beautiful woman, but taking the controls on a complete tribute project like this nears all too much to the point of disaster. We get a view of a man who is simply all alone, out-casted by a film community that once embraced him, and sullen by the fact that people don't care about his movies after a while, or the kinds of stories and characters he wants to portray. It sounds really good on the outset, but it's not what I thought it would be when I finally saw it- a mess. I would have much rather had seen a full-on documentary on the director instead of some avant-garde deconstructionist short film. A big disappointment from a big fan of the director.

bowlofsoul23 I don't know what Rossellini would have thought of Guy Maddin's work. Personally, I loved "The Saddest Music in the World", but as an artist, he can't be any more different from Rossellini. Where Rossellini was obsessed with portraying reality and the lives of ordinary people, Maddin is interested in the avant-garde and stylistic excess. This short (it's only 10 minutes), narrated by Isabella Rossellini (who is the daughter of the great director and a frequent collaborator with Maddin), is a highly personal love letter from daughter to father, and it's beautiful.Daughter Rossellini acknowledges the troubles her father faced and knows that he was a complicated man. He said himself "All my films were a battle." At the beginning of the film she asks "Was he a genius?" She then goes on to portray Hitchcock, Selznick, and Fellini arguing with her father about the nature of cinema. Father Rossellini is portrayed by a giant belly. Yes, a giant belly, this being an aspect of her father that she remembers with fondness. In one particularly self-reflexive and funny scene, daughter Rossellini scolds Maddin and asks him to bring down his camera from high up, stating that her father would never have allowed for such pretensions in cinema. It's a sign of deep respect on Maddin's part that he lowers the camera, something not often seen with directors paying homage.She closes the short with a head-on shot, stating that although she does not know if her father was a genius, she does know one thing- that she loves him deeply. Just lovely.cococravescinema.blogspot.com

joy_ride_420 I just caught this movie on the documentary channel and I think it was extremely well done. It's been so long since I've seen imagination and art and human emotion properly translated onto film. An insight into the life of Roberto Rossellini through the eyes of his daughter offers of a unique perspective on how the golden age of Hollywood and it's pioneers functioned. Perhaps the over-all message of the film has skewed my personal opinion since I enjoyed it so much, but I do believe that Roberto had a point. That Hollywood was, and still is, too obsessive over box office results and not enough emphasis on creative expression. This short film is worth a watch.