Product Details

• Directors: Quay Brothers
• Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, Original recording remastered, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Zeitgeist Films
• DVD Release Date: April 24, 2007
• Run Time: 261 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000MQ4WP6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,930 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I must be dreaming., January 19, 2007

By 

Berlinale (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers (DVD)

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!!!!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What does it mean?, June 7, 2007

By 

C. Spears - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers (DVD)

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!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...forgetting Stockhausen?, May 5, 2007

By 

James Wood - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phantom Museums: The Short Films of the Quay Brothers (DVD)

...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!