Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life

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?

Date of release
1995-08-01
TMDB
7.6 / 10 (50)
Runtime
1h 45m
Genres
Drama, Mystery
Director
Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay

Casting

  • Alice Krige — Lisa Benjamenta
  • Mark Rylance — Jakob
  • Gottfried John — Herr Benjamenta
  • Daniel Smith — Kraus
  • Joseph Alessi — Pepino
  • Jonathan Stone — Hebling
  • César Saratxu — Inigo
  • Peter Lovstrom — Jorgenson
  • Uri Roodner — Schilinski
  • Peter Whitfield

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