Those with a taste for animation that steps out of the Saturday morning parameters are in for a treat this week. The first suggestion is Beyond the Blue Meanies, from the NFB, a compilation of shorts from the long career of Oscar-nominated Canadian animator Paul Driessen. As the title suggests, Driessen cut his teeth on Yellow Submarine, but went on to establish his own distinct style--deceptively loose and simple, quietly bubbling with barely restrained liveliness. His clever, understated use of sound is admirable as well, although the best piece of the comp, the relaxed yet ambitiously-designed Four Seasons, employs the strains of Vivaldi in that respect.
Also from the animation camp, sort of, comes Institute Benjamenta, the first live-action feature from the eminent Brothers Quay. The leap, from the shadowy puppetoon gothic of the shorts and rock videos that established the Quays to the shadowy peopletoon gothic of this film, isn't really that wide. Set at a surreal school for household servants where endless repetition of menial tasks is the path to wisdom, the storyline borrows a page from Kafka, while the visual presentation recalls Cocteau and early Lynch. Muted, graceful and so accurately dreamlike you'll be passing it off to your shrink as one of your own. :

--Rupert Bottenberg