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      Cowards Bend the Knee

      Released Jan 22, 2003 1 hr. 4 min. Comedy Drama List
      95% 20 Reviews Tomatometer 88% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score This fusion of fiction and biography based on the director's own life focuses on a hockey player, Guy Maddin (Darcy Fehr), whose life spirals out of control when his mother (Marion Martin) winds up in the hospital and his girlfriend, Veronica (Amy Stewart), gets pregnant and then asks for an abortion. Maddin secures one for her, but he also falls for Meta (Melissa Dionisio), the mysterious daughter of the abortionist, triggering even more trouble. Read More Read Less
      Cowards Bend the Knee

      What to Know

      Critics Consensus

      From the visionary mind of Guy Maddin comes the wildly imaginative Cowards Bend the Knee -- a semi-autobiographical tale of hockey, murder, lust, and guilt that plays like a dream.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member If you're interested in seeing a movie that tries too hard to be artistic, or that wants so badly to reach a high brow society who has to justify having spent 60 minutes suffering through this so gives it a high rating in order to seem intellectual, then this is the film for you. Not Maddin's best work, and not nearly as artistic as it wants to be. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member When you're no longer capable of slaking your thirst with David Lynch, move up to Guy Maddin. His tesseract narratives, richly amazing character portrayals, and oddly on-point cinematography seem like they've been fated for centuries (even when they come from the hip). Years ago, a friend advised that the best way to view Maddin's work was through various lenses of altered consciousness. I disagree. I believe firmly that Maddin's work is itself an alteration of consciousness that allows us to wake up to the rich and baroque beauty that surrounds our everyday reality. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member This is kinda what Un Chien Andalou would be like if Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel were Canadians raised on Hockey and Canadian Whiskey. A surreal, semi-auto-biographical (in ways only Guy Maddin knows I'm sure), silent film featuring abortions, amputations, strangulations (including a cop (!)), fisting, boobies, wax sculptures and of course Hockey. This film is difficult to summarize so I won't bother. I can say that Guy Maddin is quickly becoming one of my favourite film makers from Canada or otherwise and everyone owes it to themselves to check out his unique films. Especially if your a fan of Silent Era films, Surrealism, German Expressionism or movies like Eraserhead, Tetsuo or Begotten. Strongly Recommended. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Dass Guy Maddin zu den bedeutendsten Filmemachern unserer Zeit zählt, ist ja ohnehin klar. Unter seinen Meisterwerken ist der als Kunstinstallation entstandene Film COWARDS BEND THE KNEE, OR: THE BLUE HANDS vielleicht der zerrissenste, disparateste, auch: abgründigste. Alptraumbilder, direkt aus dem Unterbewusstsein gerissen und auf die Leinwand geworfen; "wie halb erinnerte Stummfilme" (Christopher Long). In einem grandiosen Stummfilmkonzert in den Tilsiter Lichtspielen im F'hain gesehen. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Guy Maddin films are definitely made for a niche audience. Black-and-white silent films with modern era flair. This is a vague film with a very convoluted plot. Any lover of surreal cinema would likely enjoy it. It essentially is a warped tale of revenge and irony. Impossible to summarize in a mere snippet, I'll leave it at that. Certainly not the same 'ole same 'ole. :) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Audience Member The impossible to summarize, dreamlike plot features a hockey player with a wandering eye, abortions, seductive ghosts, hand transplants, matricide, an ice breast, slapstick routines, and wax galoots. Shot as a silent film with disorienting, stuttering editing, "Cowards" is shocking, stylish and often hilarious, playing out like a mix of "Un Chien Andalou," "Mad Love," the Three Stooges, and "NHL on the Fly." Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Cowards Bend the Knee

      Cowards Bend the Knee (2003) Cowards Bend the Knee (2003) Cowards Bend the Knee (2003) Cowards Bend the Knee (2003) A scene from Guy Maddin's "Cowards Bend the Knee." A scene from Guy Maddin's "Cowards Bend the Knee." View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (20) Critics Reviews
      John Hartl Seattle Times If you've never seen Maddin's work, Cowards Bend the Knee is a good place to start. Rated: 3.5/4 Jan 28, 2005 Full Review Frank Scheck Hollywood Reporter There's no denying the imagination and technical ingenuity on display, but this clearly ranks as one of Maddin's less accessible efforts, which is definitely saying something. Aug 18, 2004 Full Review John Anderson Newsday Lurid, tawdry and untoward entertainment from Canada's reigning mad genius. Rated: 3.5/4 Aug 13, 2004 Full Review Steve Erickson Gay City News Shot in five days, "Cowards Bend The Knee" is not exactly automatic writing-Maddin knows exactly which Greek tragedies he's pillaging-but it feels like a direct flood from the unconscious. His most dreamlike film, it's also his most heartfelt. Mar 5, 2018 Full Review Sean Axmaker Parallax View ... a miniature, barely more than an hour long... but it bubbles over with lust, guilt, and betrayal, not to mention weirdness. Dec 21, 2010 Full Review Matthew Sorrento Film Threat Plays like a fever dream recalled upon waking, told with the immediacy of fear couched in relentless pleasure. Rated: 4/5 Oct 13, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis This fusion of fiction and biography based on the director's own life focuses on a hockey player, Guy Maddin (Darcy Fehr), whose life spirals out of control when his mother (Marion Martin) winds up in the hospital and his girlfriend, Veronica (Amy Stewart), gets pregnant and then asks for an abortion. Maddin secures one for her, but he also falls for Meta (Melissa Dionisio), the mysterious daughter of the abortionist, triggering even more trouble.
      Director
      Guy Maddin
      Screenwriter
      Guy Maddin
      Distributor
      The Power Plant
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jan 22, 2003, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Apr 17, 2020
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $22.9K