Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
1995 · 1h 45m · N/A
Drama, Mystery
Directed by
Stephen Quay
,
Timothy Quay
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
Overview
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?
Director and cast
- Stephen Quay Director
- Timothy Quay Director
- Alice Krige as Lisa Benjamenta
- Mark Rylance as Jakob
- Gottfried John as Herr Benjamenta
- Daniel Smith as Kraus
- Joseph Alessi as Pepino
- Jonathan Stone as Hebling
- César Saratxu as Inigo
- Peter Lovstrom as Jorgenson
- Uri Roodner as Schilinski
- Peter Whitfield Cast
More films
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Crime · Drama · Mystery · R
Young and disenchanted Sam meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who's swimming in his building's pool one night. When she suddenly vanishes the next morning, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy.
- Runtime
- 2h 19m
- Director
- David Robert Mitchell
- Cast
- Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace
Byzantium (2013)
Drama · Fantasy · Thriller · R
Residents of a coastal town learn, with deadly consequences, the secret shared by the two mysterious women who have sought refuge at a local boarding house, the Byzantium.
- Runtime
- 1h 58m
- Director
- Neil Jordan
- Cast
- Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley
THX 1138 (1971)
Drama · Science Fiction · GP
People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.
- Runtime
- 1h 26m
- Director
- George Lucas
- Cast
- Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley
Bronson (2009)
Action · Crime · Drama · R
A young man who was sentenced to 7 years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson.
- Runtime
- 1h 32m
- Director
- Nicolas Winding Refn
- Cast
- Tom Hardy, Matt King, James Lance
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Crime · Drama · Thriller · R
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as...
- Runtime
- 1h 59m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Philadelphia (1993)
Drama · PG-13
Two lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
- Runtime
- 2h 6m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Mystery · Thriller · R
Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mys...
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Documentary · Music · PG
A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
- Runtime
- 1h 28m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison
Something Wild (1986)
Comedy · Crime · Romance · R
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-con husband shows up.
- Runtime
- 1h 54m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta







Comments
Talk about the film with other members