Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream That One Calls Human Life
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?
Genres
Drama
Cast & Crew
Stephen QuayDirector
Timothy QuayDirector
Alice KrigeLisa Benjamenta
Mark RylanceJakob
Gottfried JohnHerr Benjamenta
César SaratxuInigo
Uri RoodnerSchilinskiInstitute Benjamenta, or This Dream That One Calls Human Life
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?
Genres
Drama
Cast & Crew
Stephen QuayDirectorTimothy QuayDirectorAlice KrigeLisa BenjamentaMark RylanceJakobGottfried JohnHerr BenjamentaCésar SaratxuInigoUri RoodnerSchilinski