The Quay Brothers’ Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass

Frankly, the level of care in this clinic is appallingly low, probably because most of the staff sleeps all through the day. Yet, in their defense, it should be conceded their patients never fully die. They exist in a kind of limbo, resulting from the localized time distortion. If that sounds confusing, just wait until you start watching Stephen & Timothy Quay’s Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, "presented" by executive producer Christopher Nolan, which opens this Friday at Film Forum.

The Quay Brothers based this hybrid stop-motion-animated film on Bruno Shulz’s episodic novel, which also inspired Wojciech Jerzy Has’s surreal but more manageably titled The Hourglass Sanatorium. True to their reputation, Quays managed to make their take even trippier. Sadly, Sanatorium is one Shulz’s few surviving works, because the National Socialists destroyed most of his manuscripts, along with Shulz. Has alludes to the author’s tragic fate, whereas the Quays avoid any Jewish subtext.

The Quay Brothers also remain largely untethered from the constraints of narrative structure. In many ways, their new feature flows like Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room, which Sanatorium also resembles stylistically, especially the live-action framing sequences that share a dreamy look and atmosphere, very much akin to Maddin’s films. The Quays employ an antique crypto-projector to reveal visions of the main narrative thread, as well as several confusing off-shoots.

The main puppetry spine of the film follows Jozef as he travels to the Sanatorium Karpaty, to take charge of his late father’s body and effects. However, when he reaches the Sanatorium, creepy Dr. Gotard explains to Jozef that even though his father is dead in the outside world, he still technically lives (but mostly sleeps) in Karpaty, because patients are essentially caught in what we might consider a time-lag. That lag also induces sleepiness throughout the Sanatorium.

The Quay Brothers create some absolutely arresting darkly fantastical imagery. However, trying to impose logic onto their latest film will cause diamond-splitting headaches. They have made it intentionally hard to follow, which grows increasingly frustrating.

Nevertheless, their vision is evocative and immersive. At times, watching Sanatorium feels like getting dropped headfirst into a newly discovered Kafka novel, which rather makes sense, since Shulz helped translate Kafka into Polish. The twilight vibe is transfixing, but also anesthetizing.

The Quay Brothers’ puppets and figures have a distinctly textured and even fibrous appearance. Consequently, their work will always remain an acquired taste. However, Bartosz Bieniek’s striking black-and-white cinematography ironically provides an accessible film noirish entry point. The relatively short 76-minute running time also helps.

Visually, it is an amazingly accomplished film that viewers can truly lose themselves in—but many might find themselves too lost for their own tastes and comfort-level. Recommended to hardcore animation connoisseurs for the Quay Brothers’ artistry (but not necessarily their storytelling), Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass opens this Friday (8/29) at Film Forum.