Tales from the Gimli Hospital
Encyclopedia
Tales from the Gimli Hospital, directed by Guy Maddin
, is a black-and-white 1988
psychodrama
which incorporates elements of surrealism
, black comedy
, and expressionism
.
) succumbs to a smallpox epidemic and is admitted to the Gimli hospital for treatment, where he meets his neighbor Gunnar (Michael Gottli). While both are at first pleased to have a friend nearby in their time of illness, the two men soon begin competing for the attentions and affections of the hospital's beautiful young nurses by telling their own increasingly strange and convoluted stories—a competition at which the hapless Einar is at a major disadvantage, and it soon becomes clear that the Gimli nurses (in particular the angelic Snjofrieder, played by Caroline Bonner) favor the more charming Gunnar. However, it is only when the two men begin exchanging late-night confidences, and a terrible secret is revealed, that their friendship is irrevocably destroyed, and tragic consequences ensue.
Guy Maddin
Guy Maddin, OM is a Canadian screenwriter, director, cinematographer and film editor of both features and short films from Winnipeg, Manitoba...
, is a black-and-white 1988
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
psychodrama
Psychodrama
Psychodrama is a method of psychotherapy in which clients utilize spontaneous dramatization, role playing and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jacob L. Moreno, M.D. psychodrama includes elements of theater, often conducted on a stage where...
which incorporates elements of surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
, and expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
.
Plot synopsis
The film opens on two young children whose mother is dying in the present-day Gimli hospital. During a visit to see her, the children's Icelandic grandmother launches into the grim and convoluted tale of Einar the Lonely, a patient in a far-distant-past version of the same hospital—in "a Gimli we no longer know," as the grandmother puts it. The rest of the film consists of Einar's story. In it, Einar (Kyle McCullochKyle McCulloch
Kyle McCulloch is a writer for the TV cartoon South Park, and is largely responsible for the show's Canadian culture themes. He was also a writer on SpongeBob SquarePants on the episode Skill Crane...
) succumbs to a smallpox epidemic and is admitted to the Gimli hospital for treatment, where he meets his neighbor Gunnar (Michael Gottli). While both are at first pleased to have a friend nearby in their time of illness, the two men soon begin competing for the attentions and affections of the hospital's beautiful young nurses by telling their own increasingly strange and convoluted stories—a competition at which the hapless Einar is at a major disadvantage, and it soon becomes clear that the Gimli nurses (in particular the angelic Snjofrieder, played by Caroline Bonner) favor the more charming Gunnar. However, it is only when the two men begin exchanging late-night confidences, and a terrible secret is revealed, that their friendship is irrevocably destroyed, and tragic consequences ensue.