January 19, 2011
The Heart of the World
Guy Maddin, Canada, 2000, 6 min
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 world is then saved by the new message, Kino.