Narration, Witold Schejbal ; with J. Constantinides. Originally released as short films between 1984 and 1993. Special features: Nocturna Artificialia, 1979, (21 min.); Interview with the Brothers Quay (4 min.); Institute Benjamenta theatrical trailer (2 min.); Excerpts from "The Night Countries of the Brothers Quay" by Michael Atkinson, an article that originally appeared in Film Comment.
As animators, puppeteers, designers, writers, or directors, Philadelphia natives and identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay are renowned for artisanal methods and unusual sources of inspiration. Described as 'Kafkaesque' or 'post-apocalyptically Bruegelian' their films are inspired by twentieth-century European visual and literary culture, especially the surrealist and expressionist traditions. Influences include filmmaker Jan Svankmajer; writers Robert Walser, Franz Kafka, Lewis Carroll, and Bruno Schulz; artists Ernst, Bacon, Arcimboldo, Fragonard, Bosch, and Escher. Short on conventional narrative but long on enigmatic visuals, themes within the Quays' work include dreams, melancholy, empty or repetitive gestures, and madness--all of which add textures and layers to the abstraction of the images and narratives.
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