In another one of those weird juxtapositions, I had just gotten into the Rumania chapters of Robert D. Kaplan’s Balkan Ghosts when this film arrived in my mailbox courtesy of Netflix. Rumania, Rumania, Rumania! Look at my birthmark!

This film is a blast, very quirky and amusing and at times just a little poignant with shades of City of Lost Children as well as all those wild German expressionist silent films it draws on as inspiration.

I would LOVE to have gone to one of the live performances and seen the floor show, as it were. The DVD gives a flavor in the extras, but I’m sure the live stuff was beyond compare.

As it is, this is a good time on DVD!

I had the great opportunity to see Brand Upon the Brain! at the Music Box with a live ensemble, including a twelve-piece orchestra, three sound-effect people, a castrato singer, and narration by Crispin Glover. It was incredible! Clever, humorous, provocative. Worth the price of admission just to hear Crispin Glover bellowing “Rumania! Rumania! Rumania!”