Institute Benjamenta (DVD + Blu -Ray)

An experience that requires one to revisit and reassess. The blu-ray transfer is meticulous and resonant.

Institute Benjamenta sees the American Quay twins (Stephen and Timothy, born 1947) making their live-action feature debut, having already gained an international reputation for richly inventive animated films. Borowczyk and Svankmajer are other celebrated animators - whose surrealist influence is perceptible in Quay work - to have successfully made this transition.Prospective viewers should acquaint themselves with Swiss writer Robert Walser's 1908 novel Jakob von Gunten on which Institute Benjamenta is based (the novel is published in the UK by Serpent's Tail under the film title). However, the Quays and screenplay collaborator Alan Passes have taken liberties with the novel, most noticeably by making protagonist Jakob (Mark Rylance) and fellow students at this extraordinary school for servants considerably older than Walser's schoolboys. While a certain vulnerability and pathos have thus been heightened, the complexity of Jakob's mental life has been disappointingly reduced to bewilderment and willing obedience. In the novel, which is his private journal, he is also capable of pride, pomposity, naivety, truculence, intellectual acuity, and sexual arousal. A few carefully chosen passages would have restored these important characteristics without upsetting the pervasive enigmatic mood of the piece.In terms of characterisation, most attention here has been devoted to Johannes and Lisa Benjamenta, the brother and sister partnership in command at the Institute. Jakob's arrival, and his subsequent status as unwitting agent provocateur, signal the gradual collapse of the Benjamentas' governance, as their repressed fears and desires surface. In Johannes, magisterially played by Gottfried John, the Quays sensitively draw out a homosexual inclination (less evident in the novel) towards Jakob, and a clear suggestion of a hesitant, unfulfilled incestuous desire between him and Lisa, again only very covertly hinted at in the novel. Lisa (which is also the name of Walser's sister) is played to perfection by Alice Krige who, with memorable equanimity, registers every nuance of emotion from abject lovelessness to mildly hysterical sexual frustration. The meaning behind these power games and ritualistic acts of subordination and subjugation, in which the Quays find delightful moments of bizarre deadpan humour, is never fully revealed; nor is the secret of the Benjamentas' "inner chambers" (surely not merely a goldfish in a bowl). One suspects that the Benjamentas' forbidden love - certainly the greatest act of emotional subjugation here - may be the underlying cause of the uneasy atmosphere in their dilapidated Institute.This atmosphere is superbly evoked by the Quays customary visual flair and meticulous attention to mise-en-scène detail, where live-action and animation sequences are seamlessly integrated. The black and white photography is exquisite, each gentle movement of light in shadowy corridors creates an air of dream-like enchantment (echoes of Cocteau and Vigo). Classroom scenes in misty greys are invigorated by Jankowski's versatile score: a waltz turns into free jazz. Repeat viewings reveal the subtlety of the Quays' art.

Robert Walser,the inspiration for Institute Benjaminta,stated "I can breathe only in the lowest regions"and saves himself from fear or the struggle for existence by changing himself into something subservient and small.He also escapes(as he did in the last 26 years of his life)into the madhouse.His characters often inhabit a twilightworld. The Quay twins, famous for their use of puppets,inanimate objects,have used living actors and shot a full length film,telling a story based on Walser's novel Jakob vonGunten.High on atmosphere,avoiding dialogue and linear narrative, utilising stirring,symbolic imagery,they create a visual poem borne along by music,which shapes the trajectory of the scenes,improvised by scenes where the servants train,or simply sway like trees,galvanised by the movement of dance.The lessons are exercises in mindless repetition and subservience.The aspiration to become a `plump zero' seems to be brainwashed into them like a zen koan.Jakob(Rylance)is a kind of holy fool,seeing salvation in downward mobility,he applies to the Institute to train as a servant for rich people:"I have no high hopes of life."Although he is subversive,cheeky, insolent,questioning all the time(his speech inserts are based on journal entries),he is determined to become an obedient servant. He is inspected on admission like a stag,teeth,ears,eyes,hair by Johannes,the master. The Institute is heavy with symbolism," perhaps there is some hidden meaning to all these nothings";Lisa(Alice Krige) is the sickly,beautiful teacher who is seen as Snow White,waiting to be woken from slumber;there is stag imagery combining sex and death; we float between sleep and wakefulness in an `in-between world';Jakob is the Princeling character; Johannes(Gottfried John)is the Ogre;the students are the 7 dwarfs; Johannes hints that Jesus was in their midst;there is the idea of the god who must be killed to bring new life;Jakob voices the idea of flowering through decay,death like a blossom.The film is closer to a dance performance,without the grittiness of dramatic momentum.Does life break through this fairy-tale world?Lisa is strangely stirred by Jakob.She provides him with his own room and also takes him on an Orphic journey downstairs into the inner sanctum.A scene full of ice foretells of death where their future lies.He is blindfolded and she allows him warmth in an erotic moment,this is capped by a stream of water pouring out of her upturned mouth.Johannes is also drawn to confide in Jakob and treats him as an equal.Jakob's presence brings death to Lisa and the dissolution of the Institute.Jakob is seen out in the snow in a strangely liberating scene with Johannes, who seems to have been set free.We need to remember that Walser himself died in the snow while in the asylum.The cinematography(Nick Knowland)is precise as to depth of field or degree of diffusion of the image,using glass in front of the lense,we get gauzy light,shadowy outlines,an Hour of the Wolf-suspension of light.Sound is hermetic, lack of acoustic,dead atmosphere,dryness,brittleness and fragility. The music makes room for the articulation of images.We never know Jakob's motives,hidden by slapstick delight.This film will take several viewings to get its full import.More easily enjoyed in hindsight,at times dramatically sluggish." To live is what matters" said Walser.This film depicts a brilliant writer's dream world.Superb extras and booklet.

The Brothers Quay are two of the best animators in the business and as this film proves, they are fantastic at feature length films as well. Mesmerizing.

J’ai besoin de visionner cette adaptation un peu lointaine de l’institut Benjamenta !Merci

ヴァルザーの原作『ヤーコプ・フォン・グンテン』を読んで以来、ずっと観たかった作品なので（国内版は高価だったので断念）、手ごろな価格でBDが出てありがたい限りです（DVDもついてます）。　「人生になんの期待もしない」と公言する主人公が、孤独な兄妹の経営する召使養成学院に入学するところから話が始まります。　原作を読んだ時には、「学院の生徒たちは若者」というイメージだったのですが、映画ではみなけっこうなおっさんが演じてました。もしかしたら原作でもそうした設定で、私がムージルの『テルレス』と被った印象で覚えていただけなのかもしれません。　また、原作はけっこうユーモラスな印象もあったのですが、この映画では生徒がみな中年男性ということもあるのか、けっこう息苦しくひたすら暗鬱な感じです。そこが中毒的な心地よさでもあるのですが・・・。　かなり催眠効果が高い映像が続くので、劇場よりも、自宅で何度も寝落ちしながら観て、自分の夢だか映画の内容だかわからない感じで見終えるのがいいかも（単に私がそうだっただけですが）。　白黒による光の演出が印象的で、学院の室内のセットや小道具がさすがクエイ兄弟と思わせるものになっています。　基本的に英語で、ときおり雰囲気を高めるためか、ドイツ語などが混じります。聴覚障がい者向けの字幕が出る設定があるのですが、ドイツ語もそのままドイツ語が字幕に出るだけです。話を追う分には支障ありませんが。　特典がけっこう豪華です。30分ほどの関係者インタビュー（室内セットの一部を、バロック建築の室内を逆さにして設計したという監督の話に驚きました）、The Comb（18分）、Songs for Dead Children（24分）、Eurydice, She so Beloved（11分）という３本の、かなり見ごたえのあるクエイ監督の短編映画、予告編が収録されています。残念ながら特典映像には字幕は出ません。　はまると何度も観たくなる、中毒性の高い映画なので、手元に置くことができて正解でした。不眠の時にも便利そうです。

I recently bought the DVD of the Quay brother's INSTITUTE BENJAMENTA, or THIS DREAM PEOPLE CALL LIFE. I bought it purely on reviews, which praised its expressionist B & W cinematography and bizarre nature.To be honest, I've bought many film because of high praise from a dozen or so reviewers and found the films somewhat boring, e.g., THE VIRGIN SUICIDE, GHOST WORLD, etc. Yes, I know I'm a heretic. But German expressionism is a special interest of mine and so I decided to take a chance, preparing to curse my vulnerability to persuasion if I was disappointed.The film starred Alice Krige (most famous as the Borg queen in STAR TREK, FIRST CONTACT and Mark Rylance, best known for playing William in ANGELS AND INSECTS. This time the reviewers led me to a fine film. Bizarre, to be sure, and much like ERASERHEAD, with a decided noirish atmosphere.The story concerns a man who applies to a school for servants and learns, through a series of classes, to totally subordinate his ego to the will of an employer. Alice Krige is the sister of the headmaster, who is the catalyst for revolutionary changes------------or is she? The film may be about man's relationship to the State, revolution, class structure, obedience, or a few other things.The expressionist atmosphere is thick enough to choke on and the possibilities of what's really going on may be as much a puzzle as MULLHOLLAND DRIVE.If you have a taste for the strange, like noir or expressionism in B & W, or found ERASERHEAD intellectually engaging, you might like to try this film.Jay F.

This film was my introduction to the Quay Bros. It took me completely unawares - I happened to see it at a festival one day, having never watched the stop-motion shorts, and what can I say...it blew my mind. I had no idea what was going on and I still don't; I mean, there's the obvious domination and submission theme, the fashionable fascination with turn-of-the-century class politics, the inevitable reluctant revolt against the System, "similar to Eraserhead," blah blah blah; what you're really looking at is an arty, deliberately weird version of "Gosford Park." Yet it's chock-a-block with the most absolutely incredible, riveting, breath-taking visuals you will ever see. The Quays are indeed consummate master image-makers. In fact "Institute Benjamenta" is for me is almost completely about the atmosphere created; the plot and dialogue are simply layers in the mix. The grainy black-and-white expressionist beauty of the film, the scintillating light and looming shadows, the uncanny choreography of the characters: this is what trips my trigger. I rarely watch it all the way through. I find some of the "comedy" elements trite and embarassing, the sort of cute intellectual in-jokes that smarmy hipsters chuckle at in art-house theatres to signify the extent of their reading or whatever. The storyline is really pretty boring and predictable, if obscured by frequent formal attempts at strangeness. I'm not all that charmed by ineffectual, witless Jakob. But none of that matters. "Institute Benjamenta" is indeed "a great feast of fetishized imagery," an eye-candy tour-de-force, and I can't recommend it enough on these grounds to anybody capable of becoming completely visually immersed in an object of incredible aesthetic beauty.