The Heart of the World is a short film written and directed by Guy Maddin, produced for the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. It is a homage to silent films, and as such, it is black and white, grainy, and without dialogue, and contains many references to styles and movies of the silent era. Only 6 minutes long, it runs at a very fast pace, at an average rate of two shots per second, which is intensified by the background music, Time, For...
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The Heart of the World is a short film written and directed by Guy Maddin, produced for the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. It is a homage to silent films, and as such, it is black and white, grainy, and without dialogue, and contains many references to styles and movies of the silent era. Only 6 minutes long, it runs at a very fast pace, at an average rate of two shots per second, which is intensified by the background music, Time, Forward!, by Georgy Sviridov.
Two brothers, mortician Nikolai and actor Osip (playing Christ in a Passion play), love the same woman—scientist Anna, who studies the Earth's core, or the "heart of the world." Anna discovers that the world is in danger. In order to save it, she must choose between the brothers, and finally decides on a rich industrialist, Akmatov. As a result, the very heart of the world has a heart attack. Realizing what she has done, she strangles Akmatov and enters the Earth's core, replacing the failed heart with her own. The...
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