Careful

Released Dec 4, 1997

1h 40m

Comedy

Drama

List

83%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

81%

Audience Score

250+ Ratings

The mountain-village passions of a German widow (Gosia Dobrowolska) and her sons unfold in the style of a 1920s movie.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

In part a hilarious satire about Canadian timidity, it also comes across periodically as a formalist gem about nothing at all.

May 8, 2007

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Time Out

Uniquely weird, subtly macabre, and utterly compelling.

Jun 24, 2006

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Stephen Holden

New York Times

Careful is one long and amusing pun on German Expressionistic film imagery, Freudian psychology and quasi-Wagnerian storytelling, all carried to absurdist lengths.

Rated: 3/5

May 20, 2003

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Sean Axmaker

Parallax View

... an utterly demented melodrama tale of the repressed residents of a small alpine village who live in virtual silence...

Dec 21, 2010

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

It's certainly an astounding film for its purely spectacular terms.

Mar 27, 2009

Full Review

TV Guide

An acquired taste, Maddin is an unusually precise director who leaves little to chance. Whether one finds his approach too careful or just stunningly controlled will be up to individual cineastes.

Rated: 3/4

May 8, 2007

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Audience Member

Repressed emotions erupt into suicide, betrayals and duels in a fairy tale Alpine village where everyone must whisper and watch their every move closely for fear of avalanches. This is Guy Maddin, so if features gorgeous stylized visuals based on German Expressionists (here, bizarre hand-tinting choices which lead to scenes performed in brilliant yellow and pink or extreme orange); but, although the setting here is pure fantastic Maddin, the quiet, melodrama-based plot takes too long to engage, making CAREFUL a movie that's more for established fans of this auteur than to newcomers.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Audience Member

I'd be more careful about having sex with my mom than that guy. He wasn't so careful. Need to take precautions, buddy.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

Endlessly inventive.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

A weird, incestuous film that plays with color, Freud, and goofy characters who are so ridiculous that they're funny. It's an interesting plot with an interesting set that is (intentionally) reminiscent of black and white and silent movies. It's hard to rate or review a movie like this because it is so strange, unique, and not the sort of movie that everyone will like or want to like. I mean some folks might not want to see characters who lust after their parents. I have no idea who these people are, but they're out there. *Sigh* This is one that I'll have to watch again. This is the first Guy Maddin movie I've seen. Not sure how I feel about watching any others... Oh, and one of the actors reminds me of Cary Elwes. In looks, I mean. Hehe.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An early effort by Guy Maddin, it's not quite at the brilliance that he achieves with Brand Upon the Brain! and My Winnipeg, but he shows that he can fully put his audience in his strange world, be silly, and entertain you while abandoning pretty much all normal styles of filmmaking. The sets that were created for the town of Tolzbad were fantastical and fake, but at the same time realistic. I felt like I was watching something that could exist in another world. The entire film is based in a town where people can not shout, sing, or make any loud noises or else an avalanche will destroy everybody. Because of this, many emotions are suppressed. Johann is in love with Klara and has asked for her hand in marriage, however one night he has a sexual dream about his mother and everything becomes confused. By the way, how funny is the scene when he is with his horn and they say "this part is so difficult for Johann." The cheesiness of the dialogue in the film had me cringing and laughing throughout the film. So Johann is feeling an attraction to his mother now, which he decides to act upon by putting her in a potion-induced sleep and having his way with her. After this he goes crazy, cuts off his fingers, and jumps off the mountain. Sad ending for Johann. All the while his oldest brother has been getting warnings from his blind, dead father about the way people treat his mother. Really, the moral of the story, don't suppress emotions or people's freedoms to express themselves in any way possible or else it will cause incest and other weird crap. Not a single time in the film does it feel like Maddin takes himself too seriously. It reminded me of some of the first talkies. He also hand-died some of the film, such as the green film for the cave scenes. Even though the story is strange, Maddin allows for some interesting moments such as the complexities of Klara's character. She at first seems pure and normal, but after Johann dies we see her true craziness. She hates that her father gives her sister more attention. She forces her sister to get naked with her to wash her face after she has been in the mine. Poor Grigorss has no idea how much she messes with him. Guy Maddin is an interesting director who is full of originality. Time to put Careful on the list with his other great films.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I really appreciate this piece; the reflectivity of a time that never was, of films that never were is great! It's hard to swallow yes but really enjoyable in it's look, feel and mood.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

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Guy Maddin

Director

Kyle McCulloch

Grigorss

Gosia Dobrowolska

Zenaida

Sarah Neville

Klara

Brent Neale

Johann

Paul Cox

Actor

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Synopsis

The mountain-village passions of a German widow (Gosia Dobrowolska) and her sons unfold in the style of a 1920s movie.

Director: Guy Maddin
Producer: Andre Bennett
Screenwriter: Guy Maddin, George Toles
Distributor: Zeitgeist Films, Kino Video
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 4, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 31, 2016
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Stereo, Surround