Cowards Bend the Knee (2003)
- Synopsis:
- In this darkly funny, hallucinatory drama, after a star hockey player falls under his new girlfriend's erotic spell, he allows his hands to be amputated and replaced by her late father's, all the better to avenge the man's death.
- Starring:
- Darcy Fehr, Melissa Dionisio
- Director:
- Guy Maddin
- Rated:
- NR
9 handpicked matches for Cowards Bend the Knee
Scroll over a movie for more information about the match. Click "Compare" to see a side-by-side comparison of our clerk's recommendation with your starting movie.
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Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
Brand Upon the Brain! is a Close match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- Guy Maddin (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, MY WINNIPEG, CAREFUL) directs this moving silent satire about several families and the secrets they possess. Emotional yet thoughtful and infused with surrealist touches, the film offers an original and somewhat horrific view on the experience--the aching delicateness--of growing up. Through his unconventionally autobiographical, transcendently un-gimmicky methods, Maddin once again cuts to the core of emotional truth. The film exists in several presentations, including its original silent format as well as with several voice-over narrations from such talents as Isabella Rosselini and poet John Ashbury.
- Starring:
- Todd Jefferson Moore, Sullivan Brown
- Director:
- Guy Maddin
- Rated:
- NR
- Runtime:
- 95
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Brand Upon the Brain!
(2006) (NR)
More Mystery
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Brand Upon the Brain! (2006)
Brand Upon the Brain! is a Close match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- Guy Maddin (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, MY WINNIPEG, CAREFUL) directs this moving silent satire about several families and the secrets they possess. Emotional yet thoughtful and infused with surrealist touches, the film offers an original and somewhat horrific view on the experience--the aching delicateness--of growing up. Through his unconventionally autobiographical, transcendently un-gimmicky methods, Maddin once again cuts to the core of emotional truth. The film exists in several presentations, including its original silent format as well as with several voice-over narrations from such talents as Isabella Rosselini and poet John Ashbury.
- Starring:
- Todd Jefferson Moore, Sullivan Brown
- Director:
- Guy Maddin
- Rated:
- NR
- Runtime:
- 95
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My Winnipeg
(2007) (NR)
As Self-Mythologizing
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As Self-Mythologizing
My Winnipeg (2007)
My Winnipeg is a Close match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- Canadian director Guy Maddin (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD) takes his quasi-documentary strain of filmmaking to a satisfying, and deliriously inventive, extreme with MY WINNIPEG. The film follows Maddin, who narrates and plays the character of Darcy Fehr, as he tries to escape the Canadian city of Winnipeg. Maddin grew up in Winnipeg and spent his entire life there. The city seems to be casting a magnetic hold over him, so he decides to film his way out. He moves a cast of actors into his childhood home, asking them to recreate pivotal moments from his upbringing. Here the family gathers to undertake mundane chores and to watch a TV show named "Ledge Guy." The show stars Maddin's mother as a woman who tries to stop her son from committing suicide in each episode. Maddin couples these scenes with a warped history of Winnipeg, which include stories of a legendary racetrack fire and the sad tale of the city's ailing ice hockey team. MY WINNIPEG finds Maddin sticking closely to the filmmaking style that he developed in features such as COWARDS BEND THE KNEE. The film apes silent-era techniques; shots fall in and out of focus; and Maddin uses Super-8, 16mm, and even a cell phone camera to help drive his vision. The B-movie star Ann Savage gives a wonderfully hammy performance as Maddin's mother, and the director's voiceover commentary demonstrates both his fondness for and his frustration with Winnipeg. It's difficult to ascertain how much truth there is in Maddin's recollections of the city's checkered history, but this only adds to the heightened sense of absurdity. MY WINNIPEG is a fine example of Maddin's extraordinary talents, and provides ample proof that he is one of the most resourceful and innovative filmmakers in the independent film scene.
- Starring:
- Louis Negin, Amy Stewart
- Director:
- Guy Maddin
- Rated:
- NR
- Runtime:
- 80
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Mad Love
(1935) (NR)
Similar Elements
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Similar Elements
Mad Love (1935)
Mad Love is a Creative match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- A bald surgeon (Peter Lorre) grafts a killer's hands on to the pianist husband (Colin Clive) of an actress (Frances Drake) he loves.
- Starring:
- Peter Lorre, Frances Drake
- Director:
- Karl Freund
- Rated:
- NR
- Runtime:
- 70
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The Hands of Orlac
(1924) (NR)
Eerier
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Eerier
The Hands of Orlac (1924)
The Hands of Orlac is a Creative match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- A classic horror film from Weimar Germany about a master pianist who receives new hands from a mysterious doctor after his hands are crushed in an accident. Whose hands are they? Silent.
- Starring:
- Fritz Kortner, Alexandra Sorina
- Rated:
- NR
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Twin Peaks
(1990) (NR)
More Mystery
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More Mystery
Twin Peaks (1990)
Twin Peaks is a Creative match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- Surrealism is the norm in this cult favorite TV series when an FBI agent arrives in a small town to investigate a teenager's murder and discovers a burg chock full of twisted personalities, scandal, and paranormal activity.
- Starring:
- Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean
- Director:
- David Lynch
- Rated:
- NR
- Runtime:
- 94
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Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
(1992) (R)
As Offbeat
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As Offbeat
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is a Creative match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- Director David Lynch returns to the Pacific Northwest territory that helped to change the face of television in 1990, making him a household name all across America. A predecessor to that series, FIRE WALK WITH ME recounts the final week in the life of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), a sparkling teenager who finds herself caught up in a seedy underworld and is eventually murdered. As Laura abuses cocaine and performs sexual favors for a series of shady characters, she also must balance her day-to-day affairs, which include a best friend, Donna (Moira Kelly), an ex-boyfriend, James (James Marshall), and her parents, Leland (Ray Wise) and Sarah (Grace Zabriskie). Screenwriters Lynch and Robert Engels raise more questions than they answer, keeping the film's mystery ambiguous even by the film's conclusion. While this will most certainly appeal to die-hard fans of the series, it isn't necessary for the viewer to have any prior knowledge of the characters in order to follow the story line, for Lynch's unique vision is enough to keep audiences engaged even when they aren't able to put the pieces together. Haunting, humorous, and strange, FIRE WALK WITH ME is another work of artistry from the mind of David Lynch.
- Starring:
- Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee Diamond
- Director:
- David Lynch
- Rated:
- R
- Runtime:
- 135
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House of Wax
(1953) (PG)
Shared Motif
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Shared Motif
House of Wax (1953)
House of Wax is a Creative match for Cowards Bend the Knee
- Synopsis:
- André de Toth's remake of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is one of the first and best 3-D (stereoscopic) feature films, an alternative technology (like Cinemascope, Cinerama) used by 1950s directors attempting to compete with the new threat of television. Professor Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a devoted wax figure sculptor for his museum in 1910s NYC. When his financial partner, Sidney Wallace (Paul Cavanagh), demands more sensational exhibits to increase profits, Jarrod refuses. The vengeful Wallace torches the museum, leaving Jarrod for dead. Miraculously, Jarrod survives (though his hands and legs are rendered useless) and builds a new House of Wax with help from threatening deaf-mute sculptor, Igor (Charles Bronson). The museum's popular "Chamber of Horrors" showcases recent crimes like the murder of Wallace, a victim of a cloaked, disfigured killer along with his fiancée, Cathy (Carolyn Jones). When Cathy's friend, Sue (Phyllis Kirk), visits the museum she makes a discovery that leads to the horrifying truth behind the House of Wax. With gasp inducing (and tongue-in-cheek) 3-D scenes like the museum fire, paddleball man, and can-can girls, de Toth creates an atmospheric film which stands up as a horror classic in 2-D as well.
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy
- Director:
- Andre De Toth
- Rated:
- PG
- Runtime:
- 88
