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Institute Benjamenta Photos

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Movie Info

When Jakob (Mark Rylance) attends the Institute Benjamenta to learn the ways of servitude, his dream quickly takes on nightmarish qualities. Lisa (Alice Krige), one of the headmasters, is an intriguing beauty whom Jakob feels attracted to, but she seems emotionally unstable. Meanwhile, Lisa's brother (Gottfried John) is entirely distracted from the school's operations, and no new students ever arrive. The work is tedious, and the situation worsens when Lisa falls into a catatonic state.

Genre:

drama
Original Language:

English
Director:

Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay
Producer:

Karl Baumgartner, Keith Griffiths, Katsue Tomiyama
Writer:

Alan Passes, Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay, Robert Walser
Release Date (Streaming):

Jan 19, 2017
Runtime:

1h 44m
Production Co:

New World

Cast & Crew

Mark Rylance
Jakob

Alice Krige
Lisa Benjamenta

Gottfried John
Herr Benjamenta

Daniel Smith
Kraus

Joseph Alessi
Pepino

Peter Lovstrom
Jorgenson

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Institute Benjamenta

All Critics (7) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (7)

A beautiful, complex work that's more easily enjoyed in hindsight.

August 8, 2006 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Quote not available.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Peter Stack
San Francisco Chronicle
Quote not available.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
It is a demanding, even forbidding work, but richly rewarding and often surpassingly beautiful.

December 12, 2017 | Full Review…

Quentin Curtis
Independent on Sunday
an abstract, uncanny experience which, like any good servant, is far too tactful just to blurt out its masters' secrets.

May 17, 2010 | Full Review…

Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
A one-of-a-kind education in creative filmmaking.

October 28, 2002 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Phil Hall
Wired
The film sets a nightmarish tone.

January 1, 2000 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

View All Critic Reviews (7)

Audience Reviews for Institute Benjamenta

Oct 03, 2012

Thinking he has no important calling in life, an ambitionless man enrolls in a school that trains servants; once there, he enters into an ambiguous, sexually repressed relationship with the headmistress and her brother. A beautiful looking black and white film that deliberately uses shallow focus and overexposure to tremendous artistic effect, though the sludgy, slow and surreal plot will turn the average moviegoer off.

Greg S Super Reviewer