Good start, but then it gets ruined

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

In reading the comments, it occurred to me that many who have watched this film have missed the point. There are some very thoughtful comments to be sure and this is a very thought provoking film. I think that the analogy between this film and Eraserhead is a valid one but not for the reasons stated. Institute Benjamenta and Eraserhead are both films that to my mind are not to be viewed in the same way as Hollywood fare where plot and story is everything. These films are meant to be appreciated in the same way you would go to a museum and look at something by Van Gogh or Dali. These films are cinema paintings designed to wash over you and envelope you in a way that a plot-based film traditional film seldom does. Most filmmakers are strapped tightly into a box which is the "Hollywood Formula". That form is very rigid and if you want to make films consistently in Hollywood you have to conform. The Brothers Quay have paid dearly for their invention and artistry. It's very hard for them to get money to make these films. They don't need to fix "Institute" by being better, we need to fix ourselves for being too limited in our acceptance of what a film can be. This film is a work of unbridled genius. I only say "God Bless them and give us MORE!

Unfortunately I was not able to watch this film through to the end. It is slow and after about 20 minutes I felt I had seen it all. This is a pity as the black and white imagery that unfolded before my eyes was breathtakingly beautiful. But somehow I expect a movie to tell me a story, to get me involved in the character's lives in some way or other. In this aspect the movie really does fail miserably. It's just a big freak show. Too much style, hardly any substance.The movie is based on a novel by Swiss writer Robert Walser. It was first published around 1910 and reads like excerpts of the author's diary. In their diaries people explore their selves and their relationship with the external world. I think the main problem with Instituten Benjamenta is its failure to distinguish between the external and the internal world – it's just one big stage with a kind of a waiting room atmosphere. That's very fashionable in Modern European Theatre of our days. It can also be very, very, boring. A much better introduction into Walser's world is Thomas Koerfer's movie Der Gehülfe.No doubt the Brothers Quay are talented artists. Their movies live through the imagery, not from the narrative. This is ideal for music videos but maybe less so for a full length feature film.

I would give a 7.5 to the movie, it really earned 3/4 of a perfect movie but many would not pay interest in this movie and people should. A bunch of interesting scenes really worth some interest even if some points are averaging the quality of the whole movie. Artistically, this movie is a cake. The lighting has become a reference for me as underexpose movie, such as Werckmeister Harmonies. I also would make cross references to this movie for the minimal use of speech and the intensity of the musical score, with a good presence, wisely use.Some animation scenes contains a lot of inner emotion such as the one with the bullet path. Actress Alice Krige is troubling in his role, bringing all the strengh and the intensity in the movie, bringing the movie to a straighter line than all the dreamy but unfocused storyline ; so goes the bad side of the movie. It is easy to excuse a movie that is about dramatize to be unclear, but the spectators can't see clues or signs about what the authors really wanted to say in here. Even if life is hard to understand, can it be an excuse to make things that don't have to have a point? It finally is a highly sensitive movie in which ends up with no storyline, just pictured emotions. But it was enough to make me enjoy the movie, and i hope people will see that this part worth the movie.

A truly wonderful film that slowly unfolds images of great beauty before you. I particularly like the through the keyhole moment and the dust being brushed aside by the clock pendulum. But mentioning specific scenes is to distract from the whole work which is I am sure is as close to a dream as one would get without sleeping. I adore Alice Krige in it and the way scenes have been constructed with the actors placed within the whole composition of the frame. I would not recommend this film, rather I think it is much better to discover it yourself and cherish it.