TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL REVIEW
05-10-01, 12:27 PM
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TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL REVIEW
Dir. Guy Maddin. Canada. 1988. 72 mins. B&W.
I’m going to be in trouble. Two reasons: 1) people will take my advice and actually watch the film and be mad at me. 2) I didn’t see this on DVD.
Let me address the 1st thing first. (my mind works that way) My first review, for Battlefield Crap, enlightened the masses. Because of my words flowing off the page into the eyes of public with such supernatural grace, many people avoided a horrid film watching experience. You’re welcome! (John Travolta tracked me down, rang my doorbell and slugged me when I answered. True story.) In summary: I did a good thing. But now… this, “Tales From the Gimli Hospital.” I am torn. Guy Maddin’s Tales is one of the funniest, sickest, creepiest things I have had the pleasure of shoving into the gaping slit of my VCR. (this excludes the “old tuna sandwich” incident of ’87, natch) Yet I feel odd recommending it to everybody. Let me tell you about it:
The story is, well, inconsequential. It involves Anar, the lonely. He gets the small pox and is quarantined at the Gimli Hospital. None of the (extremely hot, but apparently underage (!)) nurses notice him. This makes him sad and he tries, unsuccessfully to get their attention but to no avail. The nurses are more interested in the guy in the next bed who tells better stories, which mainly focus on regional lore. Eventually, the two men become friends and share stories and hobbies. Then, Anar reveals a secret that results in a physical and mental struggle between the two friends.
Sounds harmless enough. “Maybe the girlfriend/boyfriend could watch this and we could snuggle,” you think to yourself. See, that’s the kind of thing I’m afraid of. This is not a film to be watched lightly. This is a film to allow yourself to be overwhelmed by and amazed by the experience. You have never seen anything like this. I know I’m sounding vague here, but I don’t want to ruin anything for you. Let me just give you some images: The death of the minstrel, Snowfreder’s death scene, the cutting and appreciation of bark fish, the puppet show, oh god, the puppet show. How’s that for starters? Oh, and did I mention that it is in black and white? Or, that it is practically silent? No? Well, there you are. If any of this sounds like it is too weird for you, then it is! If you though The Cell was the most mind-blowing thing you would ever want to see, DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE! If, however you love the early works of David Lynch, or Bunel and Dali, or giggled all the way through SpiderBaby, or the strange, bizarre and surreal is what you crave, GET THIS NOW!
Now let me address the second thingy, ahem… I am a snob. A film snob, a DVD snob, a letterbox snob. I would never rent or buy the tape if the DVD were available. This film is probably one of the very few exceptions. The reason? Simply put, the film looks and sounds like crap. Beautiful crap. INTENTIONAL crap. From what I understand, the DVD looks exactly the same. Hell, anything clearer or sharper would ruin the feel of this thing. Now, if KINO on video wants to send a free DVD of this movie, I will accept it, gladly (It is on sale for $21 if anyone wants to get me present!). But, again, it won’t improve my viewing pleasure. NOTE: The disc does have an audio commentary by Guy Maddin which I am aching to hear. And so it is for these reasons that I feel fine, perfectly fine with posting this in DVD reviews. So there.
In Summery
Guy Maddin has made a remarkable film. (Guy, if you need an actor for you next production, I know one) I cannot say enough good about Tales From the Gimli Hospital. Since I saw it, I have been going over certain scenes in my mind repeatedly. I have been quoting the dialogue and recommending the film to everyone I know. I feel that strongly about this movie. However, I always recommend with a disclaimer, “It is not what you think a movie is or should be.” I give this disclaimer to you too. See this movie. If you enjoyed it, let me know. If you hated it….I warned you. Let me know why.
Rating
**** out of four
Perfection
PS. Both the tape and disc also include a clever short “The Dead Father” and the disc has an exclusive short “Hospital fragment.”
Dir. Guy Maddin. Canada. 1988. 72 mins. B&W.
I’m going to be in trouble. Two reasons: 1) people will take my advice and actually watch the film and be mad at me. 2) I didn’t see this on DVD.
Let me address the 1st thing first. (my mind works that way) My first review, for Battlefield Crap, enlightened the masses. Because of my words flowing off the page into the eyes of public with such supernatural grace, many people avoided a horrid film watching experience. You’re welcome! (John Travolta tracked me down, rang my doorbell and slugged me when I answered. True story.) In summary: I did a good thing. But now… this, “Tales From the Gimli Hospital.” I am torn. Guy Maddin’s Tales is one of the funniest, sickest, creepiest things I have had the pleasure of shoving into the gaping slit of my VCR. (this excludes the “old tuna sandwich” incident of ’87, natch) Yet I feel odd recommending it to everybody. Let me tell you about it:
The story is, well, inconsequential. It involves Anar, the lonely. He gets the small pox and is quarantined at the Gimli Hospital. None of the (extremely hot, but apparently underage (!)) nurses notice him. This makes him sad and he tries, unsuccessfully to get their attention but to no avail. The nurses are more interested in the guy in the next bed who tells better stories, which mainly focus on regional lore. Eventually, the two men become friends and share stories and hobbies. Then, Anar reveals a secret that results in a physical and mental struggle between the two friends.
Sounds harmless enough. “Maybe the girlfriend/boyfriend could watch this and we could snuggle,” you think to yourself. See, that’s the kind of thing I’m afraid of. This is not a film to be watched lightly. This is a film to allow yourself to be overwhelmed by and amazed by the experience. You have never seen anything like this. I know I’m sounding vague here, but I don’t want to ruin anything for you. Let me just give you some images: The death of the minstrel, Snowfreder’s death scene, the cutting and appreciation of bark fish, the puppet show, oh god, the puppet show. How’s that for starters? Oh, and did I mention that it is in black and white? Or, that it is practically silent? No? Well, there you are. If any of this sounds like it is too weird for you, then it is! If you though The Cell was the most mind-blowing thing you would ever want to see, DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE! If, however you love the early works of David Lynch, or Bunel and Dali, or giggled all the way through SpiderBaby, or the strange, bizarre and surreal is what you crave, GET THIS NOW!
Now let me address the second thingy, ahem… I am a snob. A film snob, a DVD snob, a letterbox snob. I would never rent or buy the tape if the DVD were available. This film is probably one of the very few exceptions. The reason? Simply put, the film looks and sounds like crap. Beautiful crap. INTENTIONAL crap. From what I understand, the DVD looks exactly the same. Hell, anything clearer or sharper would ruin the feel of this thing. Now, if KINO on video wants to send a free DVD of this movie, I will accept it, gladly (It is on sale for $21 if anyone wants to get me present!). But, again, it won’t improve my viewing pleasure. NOTE: The disc does have an audio commentary by Guy Maddin which I am aching to hear. And so it is for these reasons that I feel fine, perfectly fine with posting this in DVD reviews. So there.
In Summery
Guy Maddin has made a remarkable film. (Guy, if you need an actor for you next production, I know one) I cannot say enough good about Tales From the Gimli Hospital. Since I saw it, I have been going over certain scenes in my mind repeatedly. I have been quoting the dialogue and recommending the film to everyone I know. I feel that strongly about this movie. However, I always recommend with a disclaimer, “It is not what you think a movie is or should be.” I give this disclaimer to you too. See this movie. If you enjoyed it, let me know. If you hated it….I warned you. Let me know why.
Rating
**** out of four
Perfection
PS. Both the tape and disc also include a clever short “The Dead Father” and the disc has an exclusive short “Hospital fragment.”
05-10-01, 12:32 PM
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Nice one. Gimli is a true original. I will never forget the infamous "Big Gulp" shot in the beginning. It's one of the most sublime moments in all cinema; I had to pick myself up off the floor. 
05-10-01, 01:52 PM
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I started a review of GIMLI, but haven't ever finished it. Here's a brief encapsulation:
Very loosely based upon the collected works comprising "The Saga of Gimli", Tales from the Gimli Hospital is a dark absurdist comedy, a sinister exploration of male sexual rivalry set during the 1876 smallpox epidemic that devastated the Icelandic settlement town of "a Gimli we know longer know'.
Infected by the pestilence sweeping Gimli, Einar, a lonesome and lugubrious fisherman, checks into the Gimli Hospital for treatment. He is befriended by the rotund and garrulous Gunnar, also a smallpox victim, who vexes Einar by his easy manner with the nubile nurses. In their small hospital room, they share "madness, jealousy and smallpox"... and, finally, dark revelations that illuminate an entwined past, setting the two patients against one another in a conflict that could only be resolved in the traditional Icelandic manner - via a vicious bout of buttock-shredding Glima wrestling.
And, in my brief research for this never-finished review, I discovered that Glima wrestling is, indeed, a real sport (of sorts). In case you don't believe me, here's a picture:
I finished a review of Careful, another Guy Maddin film available on DVD. You can find that here:
http://207.136.67.23/film/careful%20review.htm
And I also did a brief review of Eye Like a Strange Balloon, a short film by Maddin (available on the compilation disc SHORT 2: DREAMS):
http://207.136.67.23/film/movie%20im...lloon.htm#ball
Very loosely based upon the collected works comprising "The Saga of Gimli", Tales from the Gimli Hospital is a dark absurdist comedy, a sinister exploration of male sexual rivalry set during the 1876 smallpox epidemic that devastated the Icelandic settlement town of "a Gimli we know longer know'.
Infected by the pestilence sweeping Gimli, Einar, a lonesome and lugubrious fisherman, checks into the Gimli Hospital for treatment. He is befriended by the rotund and garrulous Gunnar, also a smallpox victim, who vexes Einar by his easy manner with the nubile nurses. In their small hospital room, they share "madness, jealousy and smallpox"... and, finally, dark revelations that illuminate an entwined past, setting the two patients against one another in a conflict that could only be resolved in the traditional Icelandic manner - via a vicious bout of buttock-shredding Glima wrestling.
And, in my brief research for this never-finished review, I discovered that Glima wrestling is, indeed, a real sport (of sorts). In case you don't believe me, here's a picture:
I finished a review of Careful, another Guy Maddin film available on DVD. You can find that here:
http://207.136.67.23/film/careful%20review.htm
And I also did a brief review of Eye Like a Strange Balloon, a short film by Maddin (available on the compilation disc SHORT 2: DREAMS):
http://207.136.67.23/film/movie%20im...lloon.htm#ball
