This surreal, comedic fable of sex and jealousy indescribably combines the visual poetry of Dreyer and Cocteau with the imagination of Buñuel, Nordic folklore, and Eraserhead. Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin's first feature takes place in turn-of-the-century, plague-ravaged Gimli, a northern Manitoba fishing village with the largest Icelandic community outside of Iceland. In the makeshift Gimli Hospital, set up in a barn, two quarantined men meet, form a friendship, and discover a deadly coincidence. Drawing from local Gimli history and his own Icelandic heritage, Maddin spins a folk tale parody that exposes such "customs" as washing one's face with straw, using freshly squeezed fish oil as hair pomade, and "glima wrestling," which has something to do with grabbing the opponent's buttocks. Atmospherically shot in black and white (mostly black) on a minuscule budget, Tales from the Gimli Hospital is proof positive of thriving regional filmmaking fueled by its local roots, classic cinema, and an uncapped originality.-Brian Gordon, SFIFF '89