If both characters self - consciously
construct elaborate rituals by taking turns to portray master and servant while their mistress Madame is away, then Mirren, who similarly flits between two different social classes to self - consciously construct her own personal identity, is seen taking turns in Mellor's paintings to act each side of the power divide.
Maddin mixes personal reminiscences with
elaborate fantasies of Masonic
rituals and collectivist brothels, to
construct a vision of Winnipeg as a city of sleepwalkers.