Sometimes, my laziness really is quite embarrassing. I purchased a volume of the The Brothers Quay's work on video over 3 years ago, and only finally got round to watching it last night. Still, I soon forgot this idiocy and was totally taken with the 3 films on offer. All of them are influenced visually to some extent by the master animator Jan Švankmajer; indeed, one of the films, "The Cabinet Of Jan Švankmajer", is a tribute to his work ". However, the Brothers Quay's films are not mere flattering imitations, and their work here is steeped in the aura of Central European folk and fairy tales, exuding both a childlike wonder and a darker sensuality. One of their most famous pieces, "Street of Crocodiles" (Ulica Krokodyli) is a fantastic journey into a world in turns dreamlike, playful and cruel.
Technically, all of the films are flawless, with a spatial sense of movement and time conjured by stylish use of pans, slow fades and sudden jolts. In particular, the scores for each film have been put together with care, and sound fantastic in conjunction with the images. It was fun for me, when viewing "The Cabinet Of Jan Švankmajer", to spot pieces of music which have appeared in Švankmajer's own animations. However, this borrowed music works perfectly well in the Brothers Quay's effort, and in no way is added simply as a too-clever-by-half reference point.
These are films that I can see myself viewing again and again, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't check these out earlier. The Surgery highly recommends the Brothers Quay, and suggests that you please not make the same mistake as the Doktor. There's a good article about them at the Senses of Cinema site, which is here. I also found out today that the British Film Institute have also issued a new, far more up-to-date volume of their work, details of which are here.
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