1995 · 105 min
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
Drama · Mystery
Plot
Jakob arrives at the Institute Benjamenta (run by brother and sister Johannes and Lisa Benjamenta) to learn to become a servant. With seven other men, he studies under Lisa: absurd lessons of movement, drawing circles, and servility. He asks for a better room. No other students arrive and none leave for employment. Johannes is unhappy, imperious, and detached from the school's operation. Lisa is beautiful, at first tightly controlled, then on the verge of breakdown. There's a whiff of incest. Jakob is drawn to Lisa, and perhaps she to him. As winter sets in, she becomes catatonic. Things get worse; Johannes notes that all this has happened since Jakob came. Is there any cause and effect?
Cast
Alice Krige
Lisa Benjamenta
Mark Rylance
Jakob
Gottfried John
Herr Benjamenta
Daniel Smith
Kraus
Joseph Alessi
Pepino
Jonathan Stone
Hebling
César Saratxu
Inigo
Peter Lovstrom
Jorgenson
Uri Roodner
Schilinski
Peter Whitfield
Crew
Stephen Quay
Director
Timothy Quay
Director
Lech Jankowski
Original Music Composer
Karl Baumgartner
Producer
Keith Griffiths
Producer
Janine Marmot
Producer
Katsue Tomiyama
Producer
Timothy Quay
Writer
Stephen Quay
Writer
Alan Passes
Writer
Nicholas D. Knowland
Director of Photography
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