Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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.

altereggonyc Most of the Quay Brothers films are incoherent. I hope that even their fans would acknowledge this. Telling a clear and compelling story is not what they are good at. Their films are also quite crude relative to other stop motion animation. I've always been okay with the roughness of their technique, which they say is intentional, though some of it is clearly the result of the lack of resources, staff and time needed to create less choppy animation. Their willful refusal to provide structure or narrative, however, makes their films seem incomplete. They seem more like demonstrations of effects that could be used in a movie.This film is a depiction of insanity. It is as confused, senseless and repetitive as a crazy, ranting homeless person on a city bus. Many of the visuals are just close-ups -- pencil shavings, pencil leads, dirty fingernails etc. Some are still images. The synthesized music works with the images, but it still feels like student work. It would be fine as an installation in a museum exhibit -- you could look at it for a minute or two and move on -- but seeing it in a theater as I did is not a good investment of time or money. If you like jarring atonal music that goes nowhere and finally ends, you will love this film.I suppose what the Quays are good at is making old, creepy dolls move around a bit, even if in a clunky way, with narrators growling random phrases in Russian or Polish. This film doesn't even meet that low bar.

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.