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As in ben-ya'-men-ta.

INSTITUTE BENJAMENTA is a weird little black and white movie brought to you by the Brothers Quay.  If that name isn't familiar to you, think back to those weird stop-motion puppet clips you saw on MTV back in the eighties and early nineties.  That's the work of the Brother's Quay.

INSTITUTE BENJAMENTA, however, is live action.  The only name you might recognize is Alice Krige.  And if you recognize that name, you might recognize the fact that are bound to be some kinks in this production.

The movie is about this guy named Jakob (ya'-kob), who enrolls in the Institute Benjamenta, which is a place that trains servants.  The institure is run by a brother and sister, and they only teach one lesson, over and over again.  During the course of the movie the sister and the brother both develop fascinations with Jakob, and hilarity ensues.

At least that's what it seems to be about.  This movie is filled with abstruse symbolism, not to mention camera shots.  A lot of review compare it to Eraserhead, but that's probably because they're both B&W and make no sense.  In actuality it's closer to silent films such as NOSFERATU, and the works of Franz Kafka.

The film is very pretentious and arty.  I only recommend it on your willingness to see these two factors.  It's quite noticable that these two brothers are used to puppets, as the characters are more of a backdrop to the scenery and art direction, which is amazing.  If you're in the moment, some of the scenes are bone chilling.  If you're not, the whole thing is boring and pretentioius.  Matter of viewpoint and preference.

I give it three slimes, as its presentation is exemplary, but it doesn't seem to be all there.  There's something missing, and it's doubtful most viewers will want to supply it.  It is interesting, too say the least.  And the music is great.  And Alice Krige is pretty hot for a forty year old lady.

The Quay's MTV work is the darker, more disturbed/disturbing stuff not to be confused with the equally weird but lighter work by Henry Selick. The Quay stuff also made it into videos, but I can't remember the bands--(quavering elderly voice) I don't listen to the crap you young punks like! Get offa my lawn!

Pop "quay MTV" into Google.com's search engine and you'll find loads of sites to explore. Here's one:

http://www.zeitgeistfilm.com/current/quays/quays.html