For everything negative to be said about this (mainly what I find in the acting), the bottom line is this is one hell of a unique experience, and that's what I crave from a film. I'm also a sucker for these mythological overtones.

The pinnacle of stylized, deadpan artifice.

Visually, a candied fantasy land. Shimmering soft focus rainbows through the enticingly artificial woods, but that's about the only positive. The script, while occasionally fresh in its weirdness, generally errs on the flatulent side, and nobody except maybe Krige can give it any life; the acting lacks, and given the dialogue-heavy script it's a deal breaker. The score's banal, and even the camera which so nicely captures the light can't find anything to do through the extended conversations.

"For this outing, Maddin seems to have put all his effort into creating the most stilted, childishly pretentious and deadpan dialogue with horribly uninvolving and dull results."

Nice to look at but painfully boring and terribly acted.