Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass

A man journeys by rail to a nameless sanatorium where his father has recently died. Once there, time loses its linearity and he finds himself in a world that appears both strange and strangely familiar.

Anamorphosis

The Quays' interest in esoteric illusions finds its perfect realization in this fascinating animated lecture on the art of anamorphosis. This artistic technique, often used in the 16th- and 17th centuries, utilizes a method of visual distortion with which paintings, when viewed from different angles, mischievously revealed hidden symbols.

Street of Crocodiles

A puppet, newly released from his strings, explores the sinister room in which he finds himself.

Stille Nacht III: Tales from Vienna Woods

Near an extraordinary chair with many legs, a hand is visible gripping an edge. The hand is weathered, the fingers cracked and scarred. The end of a rifle appears and a shot fires. The bullet is visible whirling through space; it caroms and then goes through a pine cone. A long spoon emerges from a drawer in the chair and stretches toward the hand. The bullet is on the spoon. Later, the hand holds the bullet between two fingers; another shot is fired.

The Calligrapher

With harpsichord music in the background, a dandy, seated at a table, plucks a quill pen from a ceiling full of them above him, dips it in ink, thinks, then draws a straight line down the page in front of him, out of which sprout six more quill pens, each held by a hand. The calligrapher moves all the hands and pens in unison, drawing an elaborate feathered wing, which comes to live, peeling off the page, and, now a quill pen, slips in to his hand. He tucks it behind his left ear.

The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer: Prague's Alchemist of Film

The original 54-minute documentary, as broadcast by Channel Four on 20 June 1984, after which the animated links by the Quay Brothers were recompiled as a separate short.

Alice in Not So Wonderland

The story of Alice in Wonderland, explored in the stop-motion world of the Quay brothers.

Eurydice: She, So Beloved

Commissioned by Opera North, the Brothers Quay created the installation and film 'She, So Beloved' inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem ‘Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes.’ The Orfeo myth is re-told through a combination of art forms; film, dance, music and visual art contained within a contemporary staged installation to provide an intimate sensory experience.

Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H.

In a realm beyond the senses, plants interact with surreal cinematography to chart the course of our character: an entity said to embody the life and work of Felisberto Hernández, Uruguayan father of magical realism. Through this journey, we are confronted with an open-ended experience questioning the nature of musicality versus cinematography, entity versus aberration, and self versus space, in a self-referential, blurry, digital and mystical setting.

Quay Brothers: The Short Films 1979-2003

This two-disc set contains 13 of their classic short films in brand new restored and remastered editions, plus a collection of 'footnotes', including interviews, idents, alternative versions, unreleased pilot projects and more. The Quays were extensively involved with the preparation of these DVDs, personally supervising the transfers and menus designs, recording commentaries on selected titles, and contributing an illustrated video introduction. Disc one: Films The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer (1984) The Unnameable Little Broom (1985) Stre...