Softwing
Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"In Absentia" is a 19-minute black-and-white short film and even if it is already 15 years old, it is one of the later works of the Quay Brothers. What you hear and what you see in here, but especially hear, will not be congruent or make any sense whatsoever, but it is a film that has the intention to evoke certain thoughts and feelings in you that you will not have while watching "normal" films. This is also an accurate description for most of the Quay's other projects. I personally did not enjoy watching this experimental film too much. I have seen some of their other works and I find them (slightly) superior. However, I must say I am not a big fan of experimental movies and maybe that is why this one here (just like most of their other works) didn't do too much for me really. As a whole, i do not recommend the watch unless you really love this very specific genre.
debbystardust
I feel the film focuses on this woman's "crazy" behavior - that her actions were sad and pointless. The point of her behavior, and this is based on a real person, was perhaps to let her doctors know that she wanted out. let me out, let me out, she was shouting. And she was ignored. This woman, in real life, had small children, had a breakdown and perhaps would have recovered under the right circumstances (this is according to German Wikipedia). Maybe her husband would have helped her get out of the asylum if he had not died. She was stuck forever. Her way of retaining hope was to focus on her husband coming to her rescue. Perhaps it was a form of sanity in a hopeless existence. That being said, it is a haunting film and its imagery is powerful.Maybe filmmakers should focus on a person ascending into sanity, which is probably just as painful as remaining stuck in insanity. I would like to see such a film.
Kris Patmo
This is by far the scariest combination of images and sounds I've ever experienced, s***-scared I was.I'd definitely like to see some more by these sick brothers though.If you like Tool video's, this is what you should be watching.
citizen7
The Brothers Quay are brilliant artists whose body of work, both their puppet films and live action feature Institute Benjamenta, stands as one of the great achievements in cinema. While their new piece In Absentia does not ultimately compare to past masterpieces such as Street of Crocodiles and Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies, it's still a remarkable film that will move the viewer with its hermetic beauty.A combination of live action and puppet animation, In Absentia details the attempts of a woman to write a letter from within the cracked, faded walls of an asylum, her progress as glacially slow as the movement of the stars. She is doomed to endlessly repeat the steps and be forever left speechless in her cell, while outside a wasteland of waring light and dark reflects her despair. With a gorgeous score by K. Stockhausen, the film at times feels ever so slightly music video-esque, and one wonders if without the well regarded composer's music it would fall apart rather quickly. But although a lesser work, it is still a fascinating and moving one.
