The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes | |
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Directed by | Stephen Quay Timothy Quay |
Written by | Alan Passes |
Produced by | Terry Gilliam Keith Griffiths Hengameh Panahi Alexander Ris |
Cinematography | Nick Knowland |
Edited by | Simon Laurie |
Music by | Trevor Duncan Christopher Slaski |
Distributed by | Zeitgeist Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
Countries | Germany France United Kingdom |
Languages | Portuguese English |
The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes is a 2005 animated drama film by the Brothers Quay, featuring Amira Casar, Gottfried John, Assumpta Serna and Cesar Sarachu. It was the second feature-length film by the Brothers Quay and their first film in over ten years.
A 19th-century opera singer is murdered on-stage shortly before her forthcoming wedding. Soon after being slain by the nefarious Dr. Emmanuel Droz during a live performance, Malvina van Stille is spirited away to the inventor's remote villa to be reanimated and forced to play the lead in a grim production staged to recreate her abduction. As the time for the performance draws near, piano tuner of earthquakes Felisberto sets out to activate the seven essential automata who dot the dreaded doctor's landscape and make sure all the essential elements are in place. Once again instilled with life after her brief stay in the afterworld, amnesiac Malvina is soon drawn to the mysterious Felisberto as a result of his uncanny resemblance to her one-time fiancé Adolfo.
Stephen and Timothy Quay are American identical twin brothers and stop-motion animators who are better known as the Brothers Quay or Quay Brothers. They received the 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design for their work on the play The Chairs.
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