The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

by The Quay Brothers

On the eve of her wedding, the beautiful opera singer Malvina is mysteriously killed and abducted by a malevolent Dr. Droz.

Felisberto, an innocent piano tuner, is summoned to Droz’s secluded villa to service his strange musical automatons. Little by little Felisberto learns of the doctor’s plans to stage a ‘‘diabolical opera’’ and of Malvina’s fate. He secretly conspires to rescue her, only to become trapped himself in the web of Droz’s perverse universe...

  • The Quay Brothers were born in 1947 near Philadelphia where they studied at the Philadelphia College of Art, then later in London at the Royal College of Art. In 1980 they formed Koninck with colleague Keith Griffiths and since then have produced a hybrid collection of film work: puppet animation, documentaries, interludes, commercials, and installations. They have also designed decors for the Theatre, Opera and Ballet {including filming 3 ballets}, as well as directing three live-action feature films. Many of their films have been inspired by the writings of authors including: Bruno Schulz, Franz Kafka, Robert Walser, Stanisław Lem, & Felisberto Hernández. Music is key to their work and composers include: Karlheinz Stockhausen {In Absentia}, Krzysztof Penderecki {Maska, Inventorium of Traces}, Bartók {Sonata for Solo Violin}, Witold Lutosławski {String Quartet Nr. 4}, Olga Neuwirth {The Calligrapher}, Zdeněk Liška{The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer, The Phantom Museum}, Louis Andriessen {Theatre of the World}, Timothy Nelson {Through the Weeping Glass, Unmistaken Hands, &

    Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass}, Michèle Bokanowski {The Doll’s Breath} and Alfred Schnittke {Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass}. In 2012 the QQs were the subject of a grand retrospective exhibition at MoMA, New York entitled Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist’s Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets, which featured work spanning their entire career, tracing back as early as childhood, with much of the material shown for the first time.

     

    SELECTED DIRECTORS FILMOGRAPHY

    2019 The Doll’s Breath

    2014 Unmistaken Hands: Ex Voto F.H.

    2012 Metamorphosis

    2011 Through the Weeping Glass

    2010 Maska

    2008 Inventorium of Traces

    2007 Eurydice, She so Beloved

    2004 The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes

    2003 Songs for Dead Children

    2002 The Phantom Museum

    1994 Institute Benjamenta

    1991 The Comb

    1987 Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies

    1986 Street of Crocodiles

    1985 This Unnameable Little Broom

  • Year: 2005

    Country: UK, Germany, France

    Runtime: 99 min

    Color: Color

    Language: English, Portuguese

    Subtitles: English

    Sound: 5.1

  • Producers: Keith Griffiths Alexander Ris Hengameh Panahi
    Executive Producer: Terry Gilliam Paul Trijbits
    Senior Executive for the New Cinema Fund: Emma Clarke
    Co-Producers for Mediopolis: Alexander Ris & Jörg Rothe
    Associate Producer for MCA: Michael Becker
    For Arte France Cinema: Michel Reilhac & Rémi Burah
    For ZDF/Arte: Meinolf Zurhorst & Eva Kammerer
    LineProducer: Björn Eggert
    Scenario: Alan Passes & Quay Brothers
    Costume Designer: Kandis Cook
    Editor: Simon Laurie
    Director of Photography: Nic Knowland BSC
    Music: Trevor Duncan & Christopher Slaski
    Director of Sound: Larry Sider
    Direction Design Animation:Quay Brothers
    Casting: Irene Lamb (UK) Cornelia Mareth (GER)
    Choreographer: Kim Brandstrup

  • Locarno International Film Festival
    Toronto International Film Festival
    International Film Festival Rotterdam
    Melbourne International Film Festival .
    San Sebastián International Film Festival