Fancy, Fancy Being Rich is a great addition to Maddin's filmography. It's everything you'd expect from Guy Maddin and more.
While you couldn't really call Maddin's previous short films music videos (though Maddin has directed a few of those as well), this short film comes closest, but it's not accurate to call it that either.
I've read one description of the film that comes close to what I think the film is about, that being about a lonely housemaid who can never find lasting love.
I'd say that's true since in the film, all the men she attracts leaves her, going back into the ocean from whence they came.
All along, she's singing the title song "Fancy, Fancy Being Rich". The song itself is from the opera Powder Her Face composed by Thomas Adès, with libretto by Philip Hensher. The play itself was commissioned by the Almeida Opera and first performed in 1995. Why do I bring this up? Well, there's a creative connection.
Does Powder Her Face influence Fancy, Fancy Being Rich? Definitely. Both include women with voracious sexual appetites. The motto of the Duchess in the play: "Go to bed early and often" could very well be the motto of the film. And in the film, when the men keep abandoning the heroine, well, you can imagine the frustration she feels.
And that's the beauty of Maddin's films. Seeing how his influences merge with his own genius visions, and ending up with something unique and nowhere close to what someone else could do.
Excellent! 9/10
