Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers

Identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay may be Pennsylvania-born, but the films they've been making for a quarter-century at their London workshop boast a distinctively Middle European flavor, with a strong streak of Kafkaesque surrealism and echoes of Polish graphic art. Though the Quays have directed two feature films, they are primarily celebrated for their shorts, which utilize miniature sets, elaborate décors, puppets, stop-motion animation, and mechanical contraptions, as well as the occasional live actor. All are weird, hallucinatory pieces, dark and obscure, dialogue-free but often featuring nonsense jabber and modernistic scores (in one instance by Karlheinz Stockhausen). All are also visually striking, filled with bizarre images (often involving partially disassembled dolls) that simultaneously invite and defy interpretation. The first disc contains 12 films from two to 21 minutes in length, dating from 1984-2003, including the 1986 classic “Street of Crocodiles” (which also features an audio commentary by the Quays). DVD extras on the second disc include three additional films, an introduction by the Quays (part biographical, part artistic discussion), a 2000 interview with the brothers shot in a French puppet museum, an excerpt from Peter Greenaway's The Falls featuring the Quays, and trailers. Although some of the Quays' pieces—commercials, music videos, and most of their MTV shorts—are missing (due to rights not being cleared), Phantom Museums is a splendid collection of a body of work truly deserving of the oft-used adjective “unique.” Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (F. Swietek)