Pretension with a microbudget. Larry Miller says, 'art shouldn't wring its hands': I was so happy to have found this DVD after years of searching, but got weltschmerz instead of zeitgeist. Dreary, angsty, self-congratulating symbolism, and may I never see another antler, even an ironic pair.
I'm a fan of Mark Rylance's stage and most of his film work, but this is a clinker. It reminds me of another wankerish flick, Guy Maddin's 'Tales from the Gimli Hospital': same crummy film stock, same low-budget pretension, same deep need for the directors to use their audience as therapists. 'Institute' appears to have been shot with a videocam & bargain-basement special effects doubtless by the director brothers; it has the makings of an OK 4-minute video, but the occasional beautiful shot of Mark Rylance's beautiful mouth can't make up for the wanna-be Bergman antics. Nine, circles, hell, we get it. Sheesh. you don't have to hit us over the head with the cloven hoof.
Run, my friends, run far, far away. Rent 'Wild Strawberries' for the Bergman, 'Angels and Insects' for the Rylance, 'Excalibur' for the Orff, and 'Blood and Donuts' for the low-budget horror passion play that *works*: you'll thank me. Two stars for Mark Rylance's mouth's acting.
I'm a fan of Mark Rylance's stage and most of his film work, but this is a clinker. It reminds me of another wankerish flick, Guy Maddin's 'Tales from the Gimli Hospital': same crummy film stock, same low-budget pretension, same deep need for the directors to use their audience as therapists. 'Institute' appears to have been shot with a videocam & bargain-basement special effects doubtless by the director brothers; it has the makings of an OK 4-minute video, but the occasional beautiful shot of Mark Rylance's beautiful mouth can't make up for the wanna-be Bergman antics. Nine, circles, hell, we get it. Sheesh. you don't have to hit us over the head with the cloven hoof.
Run, my friends, run far, far away. Rent 'Wild Strawberries' for the Bergman, 'Angels and Insects' for the Rylance, 'Excalibur' for the Orff, and 'Blood and Donuts' for the low-budget horror passion play that *works*: you'll thank me. Two stars for Mark Rylance's mouth's acting.