Tales from the Gimli Hospital (1988)

While their mother is dying in the modern Gimli, Manitoba hospital, two young children are told a tale by their Icelandic grandmother about Einar the Lonely, his friend Gunnar, and the ... See full summary »

Director:

Guy Maddin

Writer:

Guy Maddin

Stars:

Kyle McCulloch, Michael Gottli, Angela Heck

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kyle McCulloch	...	Einar the Lonely / Minstrel
Michael Gottli	...	Gunnar
Angela Heck	...	Snjófridur
Margaret Anne MacLeod	...	Amma
Heather Neale	...	Granddaughter
David Neale	...	Grandson
Don Hewak	...	John Ramsay
Ron Eyolfson	...	Pastor Osbaldison / Patient (as Ronald Eyolfson)
Chris Johnson	...	Lord Dufferin
Donna Szöke	...	Fish Princess
Tiffany Taylor	...	Gunnar's Strolling Companion / Gimli Maiden
Linda Schinkel	...	Dying Mother
Jeff Solylo	...	Angry Husband
Randy Kray	...	Angel
George Toles	...	Angel With Mustache

Storyline

While their mother is dying in the modern Gimli, Manitoba hospital, two young children are told a tale by their Icelandic grandmother about Einar the Lonely, his friend Gunnar, and the angelic Snjofridur in a Gimli of old.

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Plot Keywords:

absurdism | surrealism | cult film | black comedy | blackface | 

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Taglines:

It all happened in a Gimli we no longer know.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Gunnar meets Einar on the beach where Einar is chopping fish, the background music used is the theme from Richard Fleischer's The Vikings (1958).

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Quotes

Amma: It all happened in a Gimli we no longer know.

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Connections

Followed by Hospital Fragment (2000)

User Reviews

a custom-built cult item

Fans of David Lynch and early Luis Buñuel will find plenty to admire (or scratch their head at) in this esoteric, shoestring budget mock Icelandic folk tale, set in a bleak sub-arctic village where victims of a mysterious plague are treated by having their sores caressed with dead seagulls. Winnipeg director Guy Maddin borrows extensively from the primitive vocabulary of the early sound era (with grainy photography, a scratchy music score, and crude post-dubbed dialogue) to create a nonsensical 70-minute punchline with no joke attached. The antique style of the production would have to be considered its own reward, especially since the story itself (involving incest, hints of necrophilia, and a mysterious butt-grabbing duel to the death) leads nowhere in particular. The awkward emoting by Nordic characters named Gunnar, Snjofridur, and Einar the lonely; the Louise Brooks look-alike nurses; and the cameo appearance of a black-faced vaudeville minstrel are all reminiscent of some nightmarish, early 1930s melodrama, but Maddin's aesthetic is aimed squarely at today's midnight cult audiences.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

Icelandic English

Release Date:

15 April 1988 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Gimli Saga

Filming Locations:

Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Extra Large Productions, The Canada Manitoba Cultural Industries Development Office (CIDO), Winnipeg Film Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1