The Brand Upon the Brain

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The Brand Upon the Brain
Directed by	Guy Maddin
Produced by	The Film Company
Written by	Guy Maddin George Toles
Starring	Sullivan Brown Gretchen Krich Maya Lawson Erik Steffen Maahs Katherine E. Scharhon
Music by	Jason Staczek
Cinematography	Benjamin Kasulke
Release date(s)	September 8 2006 October 15 2006
Running time	99 min.
Country	USA
Language	Silent
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The Brand Upon the Brain (2006) is a silent film directed by Guy Maddin. Produced by The Film Company in Seattle, The Brand Upon the Brain premiered on September 8, 2006, at the Toronto International Film Festival with live accompaniment of the score by members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, several foley artists, a narrator, and a castrato. This is Maddin's first film made outside of Canada.

[edit] Plot

Guy Maddin lazes away his under-stimulated youth with his teenage sister on the mysterious island that he stands to inherit. They share this island with a horde of orphans all living together in the lighthouse which doubles as the orphanage. Their every move is vigilantly watched over by Maddin's overbearing and tyrannical mother from the top of the lighthouse while his father, a scientist and inventor, secretly works away in the basement morning noon and night.  When the new parents of recently adopted children discover mysterious head wounds on their young, teen detectives Wendy and Chance Hale - brother and sister sleuths known as the "Lightbulb Kids" - visit Guy's island to launch into an investigation. Guy is weak at the knees as he falls hard into his first crush for Wendy, while Sis, is rosy cheeked and flushed with love for Chance, a love they feel must be kept hidden from Mother at all costs.  As the investigation progresses, it leads the kids into the darkest regions of revelation and repression and spins dangerously out of control as the terrible secrets of Guy's family are reveiled.