Date: Sun, 7 Aug 1994 20:02:49 -0600 From: JOHN ROSEBOROUGH Subject: Jan Kowski & Brothers Quay {here I was lurking for like a half a year or so, and now.. 2 messages posted in one day... wowie zowie} OK, I have the two Brothers Quay volumes, and on the second one... there is a film called 'Rehearsal for Extinct Anatomie' which is v. cool. I especially love the music behind it all... the credits say that the score is by Jan Kowski. The music was almost purely strings as I remember... quite dark and eerie and entirely wonderful. Does anyone have any info on anything else by this wonderful composer? john roseborough axis@metrowerks.com jrosebor@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu Date: Sun, 25 Sep 1994 15:35:29 CST From: Curt Tsui Subject: Bros. Quay magazine article For those on the list who are interested in the works of the Brothers Quay (they of HNIA videos), pick up the latest issue of _Film Comment_ (the September/October 1994 issue with the incomparable Judy Davis on the cover). There's an 8 page article about the Brothers Quay and their works (that's including the ads that are on the pages though...it probably comes to 6 pages of actual copy), complete with a filmography and some photos. Curt Tsui is the ultimate lackey - boy. CTSUI@acs.unt.edu Date: Sun, 19 Nov 1995 21:42:30 -0500 From: firebrat (cbayard@SAS.UPENN.EDU) Subject: Re: bros. quay in response to query about brother quay materials: there are several videos, in fact. there's two tapes that i know of. sorry i can't give precise track listings. the names i remember are "the cabinet of dr. caligari" and "night on crocodile st." i think those comprise the first two, and they are both absolutely mindblowing. i could watch crocodile st. a thousand times and still find new things, have new visions about it. very much like hnia, appropriately enough.... they also did the tool video for "sober." i walked into someone's living room a couple years ago and saw the second half of the hnia vido by them. it was on some bizarre late night channel, on right after pink flamingos by john waters, i believe! haven't seen it since then, which is terribly unfortunate. anyone know where i could get a hold of it? if you enjoy the quay style, you also might want to dig up a czech film called "alice" (you can probably guess what it's about) by their mentor, jan szenkmeyer (sp?). slightly lengthy and slow, but hypnotic and twisted. good luck searching... clare Date: Mon, 20 Nov 1995 07:15:03 -0500 From: Steven Venn (svenn@INFORAMP.NET) Subject: Re: bros. quay's "Institut Benjamenta" Their first full length feature is called Institut Benjamenta and I caught it and them at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. They are extremely bizarre guys who are incredibly into filmmaking as an art form in its purest sense first. Benjamenta takes place in a very bizarre institution with Alice Krige and her brother as the Benjameta sister and brother who run the institution. It is an instution for the insane or the socially maladjusted (hard to determine). It is above all else a surreal picture. Benjamenta takes all the elements of the HNIA videos, Kafka/Walser and their other animated shorts and combines them with live action. The majority of the animation in this feature is done in subtle ways like rolling lights that pass through a room that are done with stop action. The film is loosely based on a short story by the Swiss (I believe) writer Robert Walser who was later diagnosed schizophrenic and spent the rest of his life institutionalized. The texture and quality of the black and white film is excellent and it took me back to other stuff like Erich Von Stroheim or Guy Maddin in its lush use of the black and white medium. They manage to get the equivalent of a very well done NIgel Grierson photo in a film format. They are truly an inspiration to me as a graphic designer and I think that you will see more of them in the years to come as the general public will begin to finally give them and Svankmajer their due as true filmmakers and artists. Apparentely they will be releasing the CD soundtrack of Institut Benjamenta (which is truly unique as music alone) as well as some soundtracks from their previous short films. This of course all depends on distribution. I hope that 4AD could at least consider it. One question for anyone out there. Can anyone tell me what resources I can find for the old Czech typefaces and handlettering that Bros. Quay have used in their titles and credits for their videos and short films. I am considering using some of these decorative Czech typefaces for a promotion. Any help in regards to these fonts would be greatly appreciated. Email me directly if you have any clues. Steve Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 00:10:54 -0400 From: Gil Gershman (DroneNBass@AOL.COM) Subject: Bros. Quay alert! Just a note for film fans. I'm not sure how public television schedules differ from state to state, but be on the lookout for this week's episode of "Alive TV". They're showing the Brothers Quays' exquisite _Street of Crocodiles_. It's one of the most extraordinary pieces of animation you're ever likely to see, and it's an initial working of many of the themes from the Quays' His Name is Alive videos. _Crocodiles_, based somehow on the Bruno Schultz novella of the same name, is a must-see for any HNIAholic, a fascinating ballet of the surreal in reverant homage to the masterful work of Jan Svankmajer's. Zdenek Liska's music seems to have inspired such artists as HNIA, Lucid, and Shinjuku Thief - sparse, haunting, given to moments of unfathomable beauty as discordant strings dance around bits of hushed percussion. v23 must have taken more than a few ideas from this film - look at the artwork on the Pixies' _Doolittle_ and the cover of Swallow's _Blow_ - the tissue-wrapped liver is straight out of _Crocodiles_! As an added bonus, PBS has been following _Street of Crocodiles_ with a generous excerpt from the Quays' _The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer_! Obviously a tribute to the great animator, this is uncommonly bright and capricious Quay Brothers animation, full of allusions to Murnau, Wiene, Dreyer, and (of course) Svankmajer. Jan is even featured as the wizened professorly figure with the massive book for a tuft of hair, who takes the eager empty-headed apprentice under his tutelage and instructs him in the science of thought and the theories of the transmutation of forms. PBS appear to have cut out some of the more tedious sections, making for a quick-moving and delightful bit of whimsy. Art is a multimedia expression. Give these films a shot. :) GuerillaG Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 13:52:45 +0600 From: cz (cz@U.WASHINGTON.EDU) Subject: Bros. Quay: Institute Benjamenta I saw the first Brothers Quay full-length live action film, *Institute Benjamenta*, yesterday and it wasn't at all what i was thinking it would be. I'd liken the film to a photonovel in which you view a series of very artful black and white photos (or Max Ernst collage series). Each photo by itself is rather beautiful to look at but the pace is slow and there is much room for interpretation in the plot (the passive viewer may indeed find the story line befuddling). The film itself is beautifully shot in black and white, while sound is used half for artful effect, a quarter for overdubbed narration, and a quarter for dialogue. Many of the shots seem like they ought to be a This Mortal Coil video with wonderful use of chiaroscuro and texture. Plot takes a second seat to symbolism--i think i'll have to see this film again in order to understand it. Imagine a Jean Cocteau film where surrealism is used with much more subtlety (perhaps too much subtlety) with as much or more obscure symbolism. This film sets Bros. Quay *apart* from Hollywood and it's bastard child "indpendent film" by not pandering to select interest groups, pre-proven formulae, or shortening attention spans. The Quay animation shorts may have had an accessibility that this film lacks but if you're interested in Cocteau/City of Lost Children/Brazil/This Mortal Coil-esque cinema and have *faith* that the brothers aren't just pulling your leg, then you will be well advised to see this film. -cz enters an instute to become a servant OR about a woman who dreams of freedom. You choose. me (cz@u.washington.edu) if you feel they're inappropriate for the list. Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 10:34:25 +0600 From: cz Subject: Re: Bros. Quay Institute Benjamenta in T.O. In reply to Jens' scepticism, Snarlo writes: > To counter this opinion (which as all opinions are, > subjective), I highly recommend seeing "Institute > Benjamenta".. > So what > that certain sequences are a bit slow? What is written > below is an extreme exaggeration, especially coming from > someone who hasn't even seen the film! Okay, i'll agree with Jens on two counts. (1) The slow scenes in Twin Peaks would lap Institute Bejamenta in a motorcar race, (2) If you're looking to be "entertained" then City of Lost Children is a wonderful alternative. BUT if you're looking to be challenged then see IB. Here's the review i wrote a while back on this list. It seems that the turnover rate for this list has dramatically increased of late, so i'm reposting it. > I saw the first Brothers Quay full-length live > action film, *Institute Benjamenta*, yesterday and it > wasn't at all what i was thinking it would be. I'd liken > the film to a photonovel in which you view a series of > very artful black and white photos (or Max Ernst collage > series). Each photo by itself is rather beautiful to > look at but the pace is slow and there is much room for > interpretation in the plot (the passive viewer may > indeed find the story line befuddling). > > The film itself is beautifully shot in black > and white, while sound is used half for artful effect, a > quarter for overdubbed narration, and a quarter for > dialogue. Many of the shots seem like they ought to be > a This Mortal Coil video with wonderful use of > chiaroscuro and texture. Plot takes a second seat to > symbolism--i think i'll have to see this film again in > order to understand it. Imagine a Jean Cocteau film > where surrealism is used with much more subtlety > (perhaps too much subtlety) with as much or more obscure > symbolism. This film sets Bros. Quay *apart* from > Hollywood and it's bastard child "indpendent film" by > not pandering to select interest groups, pre-proven > formulae, or shortening attention spans. The Quay > animation shorts may have had an accessibility that this > film lacks but if you're interested in Cocteau/City of > Lost Children/Brazil/This Mortal Coil-esque cinema and > have *faith* that the brothers aren't just pulling your > leg, then you will be well advised to see this film. > -cz