Review of Twilight of the Ice Nymphs (1997) by Andrew C — 09 Nov 2007

From allmovie: Set in a blazing land where the sun ceaselessly shines, this dramatic fantasy examines love's darker aspects. After years of incarceration as a political prisoner, Peter Glahn (Nigel Whitney, who had his name removed from the credits because another actor redubbed his lines) finally returns to Mandragora via ship. During the voyage, he encounters the glamorous Julianna (Pascale Bussieres), and falls deeply in love. Before he can act upon it, the radiant beauty mysteriously disappears. Once home he goes to see his sister Amelia (Shelley Duval) on the family ostrich farm. Poor homely Amelia is pining for the love of snake-in-the-grass Dr. Solti (R.H. Thompson) who is busy controlling the lives of Juliana and Zephyr (Alice Krige(the original borg queen!)), a fisherman's widow. Solti toys with these women, but he is actually in love with a statue of Venus, a magical sculpture that seems strangely drawn towards Zephyr. Continuing frustration causes Amelia's smouldering passion for Solti to erupt into a conflagration of grisly violence. A challenging film from idiosyncratic Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin.

I have a real soft spot for this strange little gem. It is garish, lush, stilted and artificial, with moments of heartbreaking beauty. It hearkens back to the grandeur of Hollywood of old, and yet is alive with a sort of mischevious irony, and a perverse love of the heavy handed gesture. All the actors do serviceable work, but my particular favourite is Alice Kreig's Zephyr. That woman is just remarkably charismatic, and her voice....my stars.

This is fairly typical of Guy Maddin's bizzarre and wonderful work. Same sense of humour, same painstakingly textured(and hopelessly unnatural) sound editing, and same passionate love affair with the cinematic conventions of yesteryear.