The Brothers Quay are an American-born, British-based pair who have earned an intellectual cult following for their remarkable and eccentric animated shorts and music videos, most notably the award-winning interpretation of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. Now this dynamic sibling duo has placed its stop-action cameras and animated cels aside to pursue the art of live-action feature filmmaking. Their maiden result, Institute Benjamenta, is one of the most visually stunning releases of the decade.
Based on the novella Jakob Von Gunten by long-forgotten Swiss writer Robert Walser, Institute Benjamenta finds the humble Jakob enrolling in an academy. The purpose of his studies is to prepare him for a career as a butler or house servant, but the lessons taught seem more like exercises in lunacy than household etiquette (weird acrobatics and precision eating are among the most startling). Not one of Jakob's fellow stu- dents, all of whom are dressed in trendy black-on-black uniforms and look like rejects from a Bruce Weber photo shoot, seems perturbed by the incoherence of the institute's curriculum or by the mercurial brother and sister who run the place. Venturing beyond the claustrophobia of his room and psyche, Jakob investigates the secrets of the school and the Benjamenta family, which runs it, with amazing results.
Institute Benjamenta calls to mind the earlier works of David Lynch, especially in its eerie musical score and the pristine black-and-white Eraserhead-like cinematography. But unlike Lynch, whose filmmaking degenerated into self-indulgence and premature self-parody, the Brothers Quay keep their focus tight and bring forth steady performances from an in-control cast. The nicest surprise here is Alice Krige, the gifted but underused South African actress whose performance as Lisa Benjamenta, the sister in charge of the school, is a lethal combination of enigma, terror, and good ol'-fashioned sex appeal. Her scenes with Mark Rylance, who plays a perfect Jakob, create a marvelous tension.
Institute Benjamenta provides a one-of-a-kind education in the science of creative filmmaking. The Brothers Quay move to the front of the class.
Institute Benjamenta: Showing nationwide. Zeitgeist Films Ltd.: +1 (212) 274 1989, fax +1 (212) 274 1644, e-mail zeitgeist@tunanet.com.
STREET CRED
Dweeb über AllesThe Eyes Have It
Head of the Class
