
Peter Glahn is released after years of incarceration as a political prisoner and is now returning to his homeland, the mythical Mandragora where the sun never sets. On board the ship home, he meets the mysterious Juliana Kossel who vanishes after stealing his heart. Once he arrives on the island, he goes to the family ostrich farm run by his sister Amelia. He finds Amelia living with a farmhand named Cain Ball who fears that Peter's return will endanger the agreement he made ... (Full plot summary below)
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Peter Glahn is released after years of incarceration as a political prisoner and is now returning to his homeland, the mythical Mandragora where the sun never sets. On board the ship home, he meets the mysterious Juliana Kossel who vanishes after stealing his heart. Once he arrives on the island, he goes to the family ostrich farm run by his sister Amelia. He finds Amelia living with a farmhand named Cain Ball who fears that Peter's return will endanger the agreement he made with Amelia that will see him inherit the farm. Amelia has since fallen for the vain Dr. Isaac Solti who controls the island and has a hold on both Zephyr Eccles, the widow of a local fisherman, and Juliana, Peter's dream girl from the ship. Solti's true obsession is a recently discovered statue of Venus that possesses strange powers. All the characters meet at Solti's lab where the sexual tensions erupt.
Leave your thoughts about Twilight of the Ice Nymphs.
| Parallax ViewSean AxmakerIt's an Aubrey Beardsley painting come to life by way of Maddin's unique rhythms, rich textures and surreal stories... |
| Film ThreatRon WellsIf you like Maddin's other works, you'll probably dig this. If you don't, this film will not convert you to the cause. |
| Bryant Frazer's Deep FocusBryant FrazerBecomes fairly tedious before he can wrap up, but director Guy Maddin's loopy conviction goes a long way. |
| eye WEEKLYGemma FilesIt's a surreal paradise where the summer sun never sets and the air is full of feathers drifting down from the Glahn family ostrich farm. |
| User ReviewGreg WAn ecstatic dream journey. Campy, pure hearted, genius. |
| User ReviewChristopher BGreat Guy Maddin weirdness. Hilarious and great eye candy. Must see for Maddin fans. |
| User ReviewGemma FGarish, stilted, utterly artifical, dreamlike to (or maybe beyond) a fault...shot completely inside a Winnipeg asbestos factory-turned-soundstage, you'll know pretty much from the Froot Loop credits whether or not you're going to be able to come along for the ride. If you can, you'll end up in Mandragora, that Arctic region where the sun never sets, men go sleep-hunting or farm ostriches, mad doctors grow homunculi while kissing tidebound statues, and the women all look like Alice Krige, Pascale Bussieres or Shelley Duvall. Best single line, delivered by a guy covered in starfish and seaweed: "How long have I been fucking you?" |
| User ReviewAndrew Cfrom 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. |
| User ReviewLaurel JMaddin's only color feature to date, and very lushly colored it is. Makes great use of stars Gorshin and Duvall. An ostrich farm, a leg amputation, anamnesiac, "sleephunting"--pure Maddin, and very funny. |
| User ReviewMichael Sthe simplicity of his sets and silliness of his plot(if you manage to find a well-defined one) transforms this film into an ever-lasting surrealist piece... shelley duvall is just awsome...never did i see someone(publicly) take so much pride in their negative physical features... |