Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "This Unnameable Little Broom" or "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is a 10-minute short film by the Brothers Quay, a pair of animated filmmakers that defined the genre in terms of short films in the 1980s and 1990s, especially in terms of darker animation and you can somehow see them as the American equivalent to Jan Svankmajer in terms of style. Sadly, I cannot say I am a great fan of their work and this one here does not change it a bit sadly. Very underwhelming watch about the story of a little broom. The music was probably still the nicest thing to it as it did a lot in terms of suspense and atmosphere. However, this cannot make up for the very forgettable story. I do not recommend checking it out. Thumbs down.

kurosawakira This was originally meant to be a 52-minute film based on the Epic of Gilgamesh to involve live action, dance and animation. What we have now is a 11-minute film of the segment where Gilgamesh, setting up his traps, succeeds in trapping Enkidu with an elaborate table trap.I think it's almost a given that if one knows the Quays one is also acquainted with Švankmajer. It may be my too strong inclination to project my own subjective theories onto things, but I think his influence looms over this one strongly. While a very interesting film (I don't think the brothers have ever done anything uninteresting), I think the more their films started to swerve to their unknown paths of (often) black-and-white chaos the better.Not that this doesn't have that trademark sense of not only the surreal, nightmarish kind of dreaming, it already has that strong personal sense that makes one wonder whether these images have been taken from one's own subconscious. In their strangeness they are peculiarly familiar, and isn't that a sign of great art if anything? That we take the images as our own.This is available on DVD, a collection of their short films, and the brothers did a few audio commentaries for it, this being one of them. They are, personally, as endearing, interesting, intelligent and witty as artists get. And artists they are, and I'm so glad to have them around.

Polaris_DiB The Brothers Quay seem, to me, to be of an elite type of film-making that tend to exploit the visual aspects rather than the sound or the narrative aspects of film-making. This is a key proof of that, wherein one can still find something of a narration but all told the movie seems to be an almost deja vu or ineffable series of movements and events.It's easy to call stuff like this "dreamlike", which I guess it is, but it seems cheap to just stop there. One of the key aspects about this particular short is that it has two characters that are both, in a reserved and quiet way, terrifying. One who has grown up on a diet of protagonist/antagonist will probably try desperately to relate to one character's fight against the other, but if you take a moment to think about it, what really is going on here, and who is doing what? There seems to be something of a fetishism here, some approach to sexualized objects. Without any real basis in reality, all fantasy and imagery, we can just take it as it is, which is a lot. The Brothers Quay have started to have defining control over their tools and I have a lot of faith in seeing the rest of their works as I delve further into this collection.--PolarisDiB

Stables This is a fascinating little short that tells the tale of two incredibly fleshed out animated characters. One is a winged creature that falls into the trap of the other, a blond monster-person on a tricycle. It's not that simple, however. The imagery, though I don't profess to understand every last bit of it, was striking and surreal. This film targets the unconscious. It seeks to evoke a response through impressions and instinct. The animation is uncanny and beautiful, as these two characters are given grace, ferocity and emotion. The camera itself becomes an implement of the animation as it cuts frantically from side to side, with as much freedom as if a live-action scene were being filmed. This illusion is enhanced further by the deft focusing. This film must have taken such a tremendous amount of vision and effort, and the result is a commendable and evocative short film.