Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life. 1995. Directed by the Quay Brothers

Film

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Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life. 1995. Germany/Great Britain/Japan. Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive

Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life. 1995. Germany/Great Britain/Japan. Directed by the Quay Brothers. Screenplay by Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay, Alan Passes, Robert Walser. With Mark Rylance, Alice Krige, Gottfried John. 35mm. In German, English, Spanish, and Afrikaans; English subtitles. 104 min.

A young man enters the oppressive environment of a school for servants. The all-male student body submits to strange rituals and choreographed lessons in subservience designed to reduce them to “absolute zero.” Gradually, the young man’s attraction to the headmistress and his efforts to discover the secret history of the institution threaten the order of things, triggering destructive passions that lead to death and a dreamlike escape.

This film accompanies A View From the Vaults 2023: Films in 16 and 35mm.

Past events

Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
Wed, Jul 26, 2023, 4:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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