According to Guy Maddin the plot of Tales from the Gimli Hospital (1988) was inspired by "The Eternal Husband," by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Maddin's own experience of cuckolding a friend.
In the scene where Gunnar meets Einar on the beach where Einar is chopping fish, the background music used is the theme from Richard Fleischer's I vichinghi (1958).
Guy Maddin on the film's often puzzling use of fish imagery: 'The actual town of Gimli in Manitoba is a good, old middle-of-the-prairies fishing village. They are fish crazy and seafood is served with everything, including Christmas dinner! I didn't go out of my way to include all the fish. It's part of the Gimli culture. In truth, I tried to cut most of the fish references down, but somehow they remained at the fore.'