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76% Critic Match
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
7.6 / 10• 1995• 1h 45m•NR• English
DramaMystery
Storyline
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 & Crew
Alice Krige
Lisa Benjamenta
Lead
Mark Rylance
Jakob
Gottfried John
Herr Benjamenta
DS
Daniel Smith
Kraus
JA
Joseph Alessi
Pepino
JS
Jonathan Stone
Hebling
César Saratxu
Inigo
PL
Peter Lovstrom
Jorgenson
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Stephen Quay's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
4.0
“Every frame feels alive. Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
