Guy Maddin's 'The Green Fog': A 'Stream of Consciousness' in Film History Seen Through a Reconstructed 'Vertigo'

An incredibly brilliant masterpiece. It seems the idea was sparked during the filming of his previous work, 'The Forbidden Room,' when he conceived a plan to reconstruct 'Vertigo' without using the original Hitchcock version. From the opening, which invites the viewer into Maddin's world by stitching together fragments of films set in San Francisco to reconstruct a city shrouded in green fog, it is captivating. However, it doesn't just continue like that; he builds a massive montage by combining fragments of various films like a game of word association, centered around key items. For example, instead of the scene from the beginning of 'Vertigo' where Jimmy chases a criminal and loses a friend, he weaves together fragments of chase scenes from existing films, focusing on locations like ladders and rooftops, and punctuates the sequence with a scene of a cornered man looking down from a building, paralyzed with fear. If you only watched this much, it wouldn't be much different from the 'favorite scene compilations' you find on YouTube, but Maddin doesn't stop at that level.

He doesn't add unnecessary narration or subtitles, and he intentionally cuts out dialogue from the footage as well. Then, he connects the places where conversations would have originally occurred with jump cuts, or inserts cross-cuts of other associated film fragments to stir the audience's imagination. What was the content of the conversation? What scene will come next? Even if you know 'Vertigo,' it is filled with the joy and surprise of wanting to know what happens next. This is the crystallization of the most primitive montage theory, and it even looks as if film history itself has gained consciousness, spinning associations like a 'stream of consciousness.' This is insane. It is far too genius. It is so crazy that even Godard or Kuleshov would have their eyes wide open in shock.

Occasionally, he inserts playful moments, as if to say 'don't forget.' For example, when a young man throws away the contents of a can in a graveyard, a little green fog appears, or he replaces surveillance camera footage with a music video. However, the story faithfully follows the plot of 'Vertigo,' and the execution of the scene where Kim Novak is mistaken for having jumped to her death is exceptionally good. The fragments used include both black-and-white and color, and they span various eras, so he uses the universal elements that persist within them as key items to trigger a 'stream of consciousness.' Bridges, cars, roads, paintings, buildings, beds, kisses, beaches. And at the center, there is San Francisco, there is the green fog, and there is cinema. Has there ever been such a beautiful tribute to film?

My favorite montage is the scene from 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' where Sutherland famously points, and as the camera approaches his mouth, it turns into a tunnel. But the ending, where he pulls the titles of the films used from the films themselves, is also hard to beat. Genius.

・Work Data

Original Title: The Green Fog
Runtime: 63 minutes
Director: Guy Maddin
Release: Produced in 2017 (USA)

・Rating: 90 points

・Other Articles on Guy Maddin

★ Guy Maddin's Career and Complete Works

★ Guy Maddin's 'Tales from the Gimli Hospital'A dream tale of Eros and Thanatos, or a Maddin-esque 'Kingdom'
★ Guy Maddin's 'Archangel'Men whose memories were blown away by war and the women who protect their homes
★ Guy Maddin's 'Careful'Emotions sealed by an avalanche and imprinted class differences
★ Guy Maddin's 'Twilight of the Ice Nymphs'Mandrake, a labyrinth of nightmares where the sun never sets
★ Guy Maddin's 'Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary'Sublimating the most bizarre project into the avant-garde
★ Guy Maddin's 'The Saddest Music in the World'Sadness is merely the flip side of happiness
★ Guy Maddin's 'Cowards Bend the Knee'The end of a 'coward' who escaped the heavy responsibilities of fatherhood
★ Guy Maddin's 'My Winnipeg'Family love, family curses
★ Guy Maddin's 'Keyhole'A completely indoor, Ulysses-like wandering of madness
★ Guy Maddin's 'The Green Fog'A 'stream of consciousness' in film history seen through a reconstructed 'Vertigo'