Rating: 
Summary: Canadian Guy Maddin follows in the tradition of "Eraserhead"
Review: "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" is a surreal first feature film from independent Canadian writer/director Guy Maddin. Gimli is an isolated village in Manitoba and this 1988 black-and-white film, set at the beginning of the last century, tells the story of Einar the Lonely (Kyle McCulloch), who gets sick during an epidemic and has to stay in a rather strange hospital to recover. How strange is the hospital? Well, they treat the epidemic by rubbing dead seagulls over the sores and do ritual bloodlettings with the point of a very large sickle. Failing to get the voluptuous nurses to pay any attention to him, Einar talks to Gunnar (Michael Gotti), the man in the bed next to him, who has his own strange story to tell. In a series of vignettes they exchange wild, inventive tales involving pestilence, envy and necrophilia. Jealousy and madness take hold of the two men as we learn that Einar has committed a great wrong against Gunnar. "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" is going to remind many viewers of David Lynch's "Eraserhead," although this film certainly provides a more comprehensible narrative, such as it is. The story is told in flashback by an old woman to a pair of children visiting a modern hospital, whose mother is too busy listening to music on headphones to pay attention to them, so there must be some larger message here. Actually, I think Maddin's tale is no more fantastic than a lot of the legends of old. This DVD includes the 23-minute 1986 Maddin short "Dead Father" and excellent audio commentary from the director, which is great, because this is one of those films where a lot of viewers are going to want to know what in the world the director was thinking. A double feature with "Eraserhead" is the obvious suggestion here, but I would suggest Maddin's 1993 film "Careful" instead, which takes his sense of the weird in a new creative direction.
Rating:
Summary: Canadian Guy Maddin follows in the tradition of "Eraserhead"
Review: "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" is a surreal first feature film from independent Canadian writer/director Guy Maddin. Gimli is an isolated village in Manitoba and this 1988 black-and-white film, set at the beginning of the last century, tells the story of Einar the Lonely (Kyle McCulloch), who gets sick during an epidemic and has to stay in a rather strange hospital to recover. How strange is the hospital? Well, they treat the epidemic by rubbing dead seagulls over the sores and do ritual bloodlettings with the point of a very large sickle. Failing to get the voluptuous nurses to pay any attention to him, Einar talks to Gunnar (Michael Gotti), the man in the bed next to him, who has his own strange story to tell. In a series of vignettes they exchange wild, inventive tales involving pestilence, envy and necrophilia. Jealousy and madness take hold of the two men as we learn that Einar has committed a great wrong against Gunnar. "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" is going to remind many viewers of David Lynch's "Eraserhead," although this film certainly provides a more comprehensible narrative, such as it is. The story is told in flashback by an old woman to a pair of children visiting a modern hospital, whose mother is too busy listening to music on headphones to pay attention to them, so there must be some larger message here. Actually, I think Maddin's tale is no more fantastic than a lot of the legends of old. This DVD includes the 23-minute 1986 Maddin short "Dead Father" and excellent audio commentary from the director, which is great, because this is one of those films where a lot of viewers are going to want to know what in the world the director was thinking. A double feature with "Eraserhead" is the obvious suggestion here, but I would suggest Maddin's 1993 film "Careful" instead, which takes his sense of the weird in a new creative direction.
Rating: 
Summary: MAKES YOUR HMO LOOK GOOD
Review: ... "TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL" is the black and white first film from Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin and it reflects the best of the great silent and surrealist directors like F.W. Murnau, Luis Bunuel and Jean Cocteau. Originally released in 1988, this 68 minute nightmare is set during a smallpox epidemic in the village of Gimli, Manitoba, at the beginning of the 20th century. Friends Emar and Gunnar are two male patients who share a hospital room as well as their darkest secrets. Disturbing tales of creeping pestilence, unconsummated passions, envy, necrophilia are told climaxing in a deadly battle between the former friends now rivals. Moody, weird and atmospheric, the Gimli universe has been embraced by the midnight movie circuit and set the director's career in motion. The disc includes a crisp full frame transfer, an impish director's commentary and two of his short films.
Rating:
Summary: MAKES YOUR HMO LOOK GOOD
Review: ... "TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL" is the black and white first film from Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin and it reflects the best of the great silent and surrealist directors like F.W. Murnau, Luis Bunuel and Jean Cocteau. Originally released in 1988, this 68 minute nightmare is set during a smallpox epidemic in the village of Gimli, Manitoba, at the beginning of the 20th century. Friends Emar and Gunnar are two male patients who share a hospital room as well as their darkest secrets. Disturbing tales of creeping pestilence, unconsummated passions, envy, necrophilia are told climaxing in a deadly battle between the former friends now rivals. Moody, weird and atmospheric, the Gimli universe has been embraced by the midnight movie circuit and set the director's career in motion. The disc includes a crisp full frame transfer, an impish director's commentary and two of his short films.
Rating: 
Summary: don't believe the hype. OVERRATED
Review: after reading many reviews on this so called masterpiece of surreal cinema I finally gave in to purchasing this DVD. comparisons to such geniuses such as Murnau, Cocteau, Bunuel, and Lynch which are repeatedly made to Maddin are idiotic. no offense to him but Tales from.. is in no way comparable to Eraserhead or Blood of a Poet. Tales from the Gimli Hospital is not a horrible film but it's not what people have hailed it to be. maybe I'm missing something that everyone else isn't. there are signs of a talented filmmaker none the less and his later work has proven that. that doesn't help the dullness of the story and the horrific acting that could only be compared as .......-like. anyway, judge for yourself. but don't be fulled by statements such as: "this is a must", because it isn't. just because something is filmed in black and white and vintage techniques are thrown in does not make it a digestable surrealist piece.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Eraserhead!
Review: As much as I love both this film and Eraserhead, there is no real comparison. Both movies are black and white, have either drones or vintage sounding music for a soundtrack, and are very surreal, however Tales From the Gimli Hospital is in no way as depressing as Eraserhead and is more of a fun black comedy. Although Eraserhead may have also been an influence on Tales, I believe the similarities exist mainly because they have common influences, i.e. old silent movies, especially those by the German expressionists. There are long stretches in the film where there is almost no dialogue other than the narration, much like the cards occassionally flashed during silent movies. There is also a man in black face playing the traditional minstrel character out of 1920s movies which hopefully noone will take offence at. Even the titles and special effects are copied from old silent films. The story itself is influenced by old Germanic and Scandanavian legends which often did tend to lean more towards surrealism than linear logic and were more concerned with making a more purely emotional point, and so it was only natural for the director to decide to film it in the style of old silent films which have a far more dreamlike quality to them than any style that has followed. Watching this tongue-in-cheek film with its amazing visuals depicting one interesting incident after another, is a fun and enjoyable experience for anyone who does not demand that stories always make sense.
Rating:
Summary: A Gorgeous Melding of the Surreal and Folklore
Review: From the very first frame, Guy Maddin's offbeat "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" takes us into a brilliantly conceived world where the surreal and the ancient merge to form one of the most unique and thrilling cinematic realms ever seen. Combining gothic sensibility with early twentieth century silent film techniques, Maddin creates an atmosphere drenched with visual delights, horrors and deep rooted symbolism. What Maddin has done with this film is create a visionary work that is nearly flawless. Although the film takes many viewings to fully sink in due to its strange structure and deliberately labyrinthine story telling, it is a fully realized piece of avant-garde cinema in the tradition of the great works of the silent German Expressionists. By taking ancient Icelandic folktales and blending them with incongrous and fantastical images onto a black and white celluloid canvas, Maddin has done with one film what few directors ever accomplish in their entire carreers ....the creation of a truly unique and worthy piece of cinemtaic art!
Rating:
Summary: A Gorgeous Melding of the Surreal and Folklore
Review: From the very first frame, Guy Maddin's offbeat "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" takes us into a brilliantly conceived world where the surreal and the ancient merge to form one of the most unique and thrilling cinematic realms ever seen. Combining gothic sensibility with early twentieth century silent film techniques, Maddin creates an atmosphere drenched with visual delights, horrors and deep rooted symbolism. What Maddin has done with this film is create a visionary work that is nearly flawless. Although the film takes many viewings to fully sink in due to its strange structure and deliberately labyrinthine story telling, it is a fully realized piece of avant-garde cinema in the tradition of the great works of the silent German Expressionists. By taking ancient Icelandic folktales and blending them with incongrous and fantastical images onto a black and white celluloid canvas, Maddin has done with one film what few directors ever accomplish in their entire carreers ....the creation of a truly unique and worthy piece of cinemtaic art!
Rating:
Summary: For Specialized Sensibilities
Review: Guy Maddin is the weirdest of the weirdest of the weird, so it's not surprising that some customer reviewers who generally like "wierd stuff" were disappointed by this, his first and most uncompromising full-length outing. He's way more idiosynchratic and insular even than early Lynch or Cronenberg. There is actually a coherent and macabrely funny story here about a male rivalry between two patients in the weirdest of all hospitals during the legendary (for Icelandic Manitobans, of which I am one) smallpox epidemic in the Icelandic settlement of Gimli. But after the movie's (really gross and distastefully misogynous) climactic revelation about the secret history that binds the two men, it loses itself in incomprehensible and very boring artsy nonsense. The film didn't say much to me on a first viewing, but parts of it have stayed with me. It really only deserves 3 stars as a whole, but I'll give it 4 because the early montage sequence featuring a series of bizarre (but historically faithful!) Icelandic grooming rituals is a surrealist treat, and both the VHS and DVD include Maddin's first film, the short film "The Dead Father," which is maybe the most emotionally lucid thing he's ever done and very funny for those who like black, surealistic humour. Further caveats: the production values and the acting are on a par with Ed Wood (the director, not the Burton movie), so don't expect polish, but the male leads have genuine charisma and Maddin has a superb visual sense, although it's more on display in his second feature, the ravishing "Archangel."
Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for surreal. . .
Review: I am from the U.P. of Michigan and Guy Maddin came to our local University. A unique, entertaining man. His film is a must-see for any of you who love "alternative cinema". Icelandic misfits. . .it is a film you will never forget. A true gem for real cinema buffs.
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