Taking its cues from silent era aesthetics, Careful, the third feature film from singular Winnipegger Guy Maddin, is a hilarious satire that sends up both Canadian timidity and sexual repression. 

Set in the fictional 19th century Alpine village of Tolzbad, whose residents – man, woman, child, and animal! – speak in whispers and suppress their emotions so as not to cause an avalanche. Careful follows the sexual frenzies of the denizens of this frozen hamlet, all of whom hope to someday serve the reclusive Count Knotkers (Australian director Paul Cox). All of this repression soon breeds bizarre and incestuous love triangles –  and even quadrangles –  that come with deadly consequences.

Awash in lurid, luminescent tints of color contrasted with stark black and white compositions (Maddin acted as his own DP), Careful is a formalist gem that uses old fashioned melodrama and Maddin’s own absurd humor as a mode of expression through which the filmmakers pushes the boundaries of desire, ambition, and good taste. 

Careful screened at the 1992 New York Film Festival and was named the Best Canadian Film at the 1992 Cinéfest Sudbury.