Surrounded by muscle boys at the gay disco, Harry (John Hannah) is alone. The large birthmark on his face sees to that. In the dark room he enjoys the touch of other men but once the lights come on, he is alone again. Depressed to the point of madness, Harry contemplates suicide. He drives to England's north shore and breaks down, both physically and mentally. One day, while walking along the beach he comes across an overturned bucket. When he kicks it he discovers that beneath it is a head! Buried to his neck and comatose is Flint (Bernard Hill), a strange enigmatic man whom Harry nurses back to health. Flint has felt the pains of time and lives on the beach eating spiders and mice. He is heterosexual and the two are wary of each other to begin with. But they set up house together in a little clay cottage by the sea. Flint is older and crusty and his background is mysterious. Harry is attracted to Flint but is in fear of rejection. Slowly mutual affection rules and the way it happens is both touching and believable. They realize that they are outcasts in an unfeeling society. There always remains the threat of outside forces ripping apart their idealistic life. These two men begin an odd yet rewarding relationship that proves that all of us can find someone we can trust, need, and love. The movie focuses on how their relationship is transformed from distrust, through respect, and ultimately to attraction.
Harry has a birthmark in the shape of Madagascar across much of the left side of his face, hence the title. The photography is beautiful, the plot is good, and the acting is well done. But it tends to be artsy, using a lot of symbolism and stilted dialogue. Sarah Hopkins, Thurlow Lieurance, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Patrick Prins composed the songs on the soundtrack. Chris Newby wrote the screenplay and directed.
