Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life (1995)
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? surrealism
Released: Aug 01, 1995
Runtime:
Genre: Drama
Stars: Alice Krige, Mark Rylance, Gottfried John, Daniel Smith, Joseph Alessi, Jonathan Stone, César Saratxu, Peter Lovstrom, Uri Roodner, Peter Whitfield
Subtitle: ETC.