By Ray Pride

JULY 20, 1998: 

From Canada's most eccentric anachronist, Guy Maddin, comes his first color film, a tale of romantic passion and ostrich-farming in the fever-dreamland of Mandragora. Upon his release, a political prisoner (R.H. Thomson) returns home via ocean liner to the ostrich ranch of his cranky sister (Shelly Duvall) and her even crankier hired hand (Frank Gorshin). He falls in love with several women, all of whom taunt him (Alice Krige, is, as always, an improper delight). I'm partial to Maddin's earlier black-and white pictures, but the world he conjures here of strange atmospheres and stranger performances is never less than awe-inspiring. 94m

(Ray Pride)

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