Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > The Brothers Quay - Stephen Holden (review date 13 March 1996)

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Stephen Holden (review date 13 March 1996)

SOURCE: "ABC's of Self-Negation for Aspiring Butlers," in The New York Times, March 13, 1996, p. B3.

[In the following mixed review of Institute Benjamenta, Holden praises the visual style of the film but criticizes its overall effect as "vaporous" and "tediously precious."]

Since most movies portray people struggling to get ahead, it takes a certain kind of nerve to make a film about a man who attends a special school to study self-negation.

The Institute Benjamenta, the imaginary academy that is the setting of the Quay Brothers' first live-action feature film [Institute Benjamenta], is a decrepit training ground for butlers situated deep in a misty forest somewhere in central Europe. It is here that Jakob von Gunten (Mark Rylance), an aspiring butler, enrolls for instruction in "the divine duty of servants." Once ensconced, he joins less than a dozen other dedicated...

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1. Introduction
2. ∗Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Mark Le Fanu (essay date Spring 1984)
   2. Tony Rayns (review date June 1986)
   3. The Brothers Quay with Chris Petit (interview date June 1986)
   4. Julian Petley (review date June 1986)
   5. Raymond Durgnat (review date June 1986)
   6. Michael O'Pray (review date June 1986)
   7. Peter Greenaway (review date Summer 1986)
   8. Richard Combs (review date July 1986)
   9. Roger Noake (review date July 1986)
   10. Vincent Canby (review date 29 April 1987)
   11. David Edelstein (review date 5 May 1987)
   12. Amos Vogel (review date May-June 1987)
   13. Terrence Rafferty (essay date June 1987)
   14. Georgia Brown (review date 2 April 1991)
   15. Jonathan Romney (essay date March 1992)
   16. Jonathan Romney (review date May 1992)
   17. Denise Tilles (essay date January 1993)
   18. Michael Atkinson (essay date September-October 1994)
   19. The Brothers Quay with Ryan Deussing (interview date 9 February 1996)
   20. Stephen Holden (review date 13 March 1996)
   21. J. Hoberman (review date 19 March 1996)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright