Christopher Nolan is known for his big, involved, intricate movies. Movies that, at their best, make you think and wonder long after you have finished watching them. What then is a Christopher Nolan directed documentary like?
Perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out to be very similar to one of his narrative features — it asks you to ponder exactly what you’re witnessing and what it all means. In the case of “Quay,” it is also a lot shorter.
Examining the work style of the Quay Brothers, filmmakers with a unique hybrid style of animation and live-action, Nolan sits back and lets the brothers talk. Or maybe “sits back” isn’t exactly the right phrase as we don’t see the director at all, nor do we hear from him. Clocking in at a mere 12 minutes, “Quay” is currently being shown alongside three of the brothers’ shorts – “In Absentia,” “The Comb,” and “Street of Crocodiles” — in an 11-city theatrical tour.
“Quay” exists without any sort of narration, any sort of introduction, and any sort of closing. It is simply a look at some of the Quay Brothers’ creations and the extremely delicate and involved nature of their work. Those who attempt to watch “Quay” without any knowledge of who Stephen and Timothy Quay are, and/or some of the movies they have made, will be left completely in the dark. However, those who do know the Quays and their work will be delighted by what Nolan has put on screen… at least they will until it ends all too soon.
The entirety of the documentary takes place in the Quays’ studio/workshop. It is very much a look inside their world and a number of their creations are present either as examples of how they animate something or simply in the background. Throughout the piece, Stephen and Timothy offer little hints about how they develop the magic they put on screen — things like using olive oil (virgin) on the eyes (and sometimes teeth) of dolls to give them more of a liquid, realistic look. The Quay Brothers also delve into the miniscule movements of the camera required to create a tracking shot, something that causes physical strain as it requires a lot of bending over to move the camera and then standing up to adjust the dolls and then back down again to the camera, etc. Another moment in the documentary explains how they get a creepy light to shine out from where a doll’s eyes should be.
More than once in “Quay,” the brothers finish each other’s thoughts and offer up the briefest hints about their worldview. The audience gets the sense that they are masters at their craft, but because this isn’t a full-length documentary or an elaborate breakdown of how they do what they do, it is only that — a sense that they are masters.
The biggest regret one has watching it is that it ends as soon as it gets going. The movie begs to be longer, to have Nolan alongside Timothy and Stephen as they go from place to place looking for the right doll or the right accessory, and to then have Nolan in the studio as the brothers put together the concept for a film and then execute it. The Quays are able to show Nolan just how they accomplish thing A or thing B, but not getting to see the brothers go from pre-production to a final product is disappointing.
That sort of documentary, however, wouldn’t work as an accompaniment to The Quay Brothers in 35MM, as the theatrical tour is known. The short Nolan has created works simply as an introduction, a way to situate the audience after “In Absentia” and before “The Comb” and “Street of Crocodiles.” Some of the dolls we see in the studio appear in the Quay Brothers’ shorts, which may offer insight into why Nolan and the brothers show us the dolls they do.
