Product Description

Two of the world’s most original filmmakers, identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay have been creating their unique blend of puppetry and stop-motion animation for nearly 30 years and have spawned an enormous cult following. The Quays display a passion for detail, a breathtaking command of color and texture, and an uncanny use of focus and camera movement that make their films unique and instantly recognizable. Best known for their classic 1986 film STREET OF CROCODILES -- which filmmaker Terry Gilliam recently selected as one of the ten best animated films of all time -- they are masters of miniaturization and on their tiny sets have created an unforgettable world, suggestive of a landscape of long-repressed childhood dreams. This new two-disc set contains thirteen of their classic short films—some never-before-available on DVD—in brand-new, restored and remastered editions (personally supervised by the Quays), plus a collection of "footnotes" including new audio commentaries, extensive interviews, alternative versions, unrealized pilot projects and more. PHANTOM MUSEUMS: THE SHORT FILMS OF THE QUAY BROTHERS also features a 24-page, gorgeously illustrated booklet, including an extensive Quay Dictionary and a new essay by film critic Michael Atkinson.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14366 in DVD
• Brand: Phantom
• Released on: 2007-04-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Black & White, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 261 minutes

Amazon.com
For those who already know the short films of the Brothers Quay, Phantom Museums is a welcome, thorough investigation of a lifelong dedication to stop-motion animation and dream sequence narratives. For those just discovering this identical twin team of Stephen and Timothy Quay, Phantom Museums is the place to start. This two-disc set includes roughly twenty of their projects, chronologically spanning thirty years. Inspired by the old-fashioned look of early animated features such as The Adventures of Prince Achmed, as well as Jan Svankmajer and Jiri Barta's films, The Brothers Quay built their reputation on combining the quaintness and delicacy of early animation with present day macabre. As miniaturists, they painstakingly hand assembled decadent sets, such as an ancient library, a shrunken head vault at the natural history museum, and spiral staircases. Homemade dolls with missing eyes, pins, needles, and screws, protractors, and other tiny metallic things, make characters and their environs grotesquely techno, framed by carnivalesque camerawork in which the viewer experiences scenes from every possible angle. Highly anatomical, they sometimes use steaks and livers to represent doll innards. Watching these films now, one appreciates their Goth quality, especially because of the romantic, classical musical accompaniment. Their influence on the music video industry is also apparent. Each film has a unique story and production design, so that although the overall Quay aesthetic is clear, variation avoids redundancy. Phantom Museums also includes director commentary, alternate versions, and a wonderful filmed interview with the pair, in which they discuss their father forcing them to choose between either becoming gym teachers or artists. Lucky for us. --Trinie Dalton

New York Post
"Unlike anything you've ever seen, even in your dreamiest dreams."

The New York Times
"Haunting! Exquisite precision and a bizarre, otherworldly sensibility."

Customer Reviews

I must be dreaming.
As a long time Quay fan this is manna. I went to the Zeitgeist web site and it sounds nothing short of incredible:

Box Synopsis:

Since the late 1970s, identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay have made a unique contribution to animation in general and the puppet film in particular. Filtering arcane visual, literary, musical, cinematic and philosophical influences through their own utterly distinctive sensibility, each Quay film rivets the attention through hypnotic control of décor, music and movement, evoking half-remembered dreams and long-suppressed childhood memories, fascinating and deeply unsettling in turn.

This new two-disc set contains thirteen of their classic short films in brand-new, restored and remastered editions, plus a collection of footnotes including extensive interviews, alternative versions, unrealized pilot projects and more. The Quays were extensively involved with the preparation of this set--from personally supervising the transfers to recording audio commentaries for selected works.

Zeitgeist Films is proud to present Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers in exclusive slipcase packaging--with a 24-page illustrated booklet including an extensive Quay Brothers Dictionary and a new essay by film critic Michael Atkinson.


DISC ONE: THE FILMS
The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (1984)
*This Unnameable Little Broom (Epic of Gilgamesh) (1985)
*Street of Crocodiles (1986), plus original treatment
Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies (1987)
*Stille Nacht I (Dramolet) (1988)
The Comb (1990)
Anamorphosis (1991)
*Stille Nacht II (Are We Still Married?) (1992)
*Stille Nacht III (Tales From Vienna Woods) (1993)
Stille Nacht IV (Can't Go Wrong Without You) (1994)
*In Absentia (2000)
The Phantom Museum (2003)

*Includes Quay Brothers audio commentary

DISC TWO: THE FOOTNOTES
Nocturna Artificialia (1979)
The Calligrapher (1991)
The Summit (1995)
In Absentia in Scope (2000)
Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies in Scope (1987)
Quay Brothers Introduction (2006)
Archive Interview (2000)
The Falls Excerpt (1980, Peter Greenaway)
BFI Distribution Ident (1991)
Institute Benjamenta and Piano Tuner of Earthquakes Trailers

ENJOY!!!!

What does it mean?
I have often wondered what the films of the Brothers Quay mean. Or more precisely, if they have any meaning at all. Thanks to the excellent extras included with this DVD set I am finally starting to get an inkling. However, the main attraction of this set are the films themselves, which are presented in beautiful, pristine condition. I have viewed these films on an earlier DVD collection, but the quality of "Phantom Museums" blows it away! "Phantom Museums" actually includes a couple films I have not seen before! A must for fans!

...forgetting Stockhausen?
...yes, this edition is nothing short of AMAZING! -what makes this edition more appealing to me is not only the beautifully remastered versions of these dark and haunting films but the 2 added shorts, especially In Absentia, using german composer Karlhienz Stockhausen's score. The inventor of pure electronic music!