Institute History
Description
Set in a bizarre, decaying near future or perhaps an alternate present, BEG! is a film that defies description. Obvious comparisons can be drawn to Greenaway for the clever lighting design, Gilliam for the imaginative art direction (and gleeful fixation on dirt and grime), and Cronenberg for some stomach-churning images, but BEG! is still the boldest, blackest, and most ambitious departure from mainstream British cinema in years.
St. Caninus Hospital is an understaffed, underfunded, overcrowded, and filthy institution where a series of grisly murders is adding to the general bedlam. The first corpse to be discovered is the lover of Dr. Penny Second, who is under pressure by the hospital’s male-dominated board to close the women’s ward. Detective Sergeant Stiltskinis brought in to investigate the murders and is closely scrutinized by security boss Hal through a permanently embedded listening device. In spite of this and his encroaching madness, Stiltskin falls for Penny.
With its taut, melodramatic performances; rich, photographic compositions; and high production values, BEG! emerges as a film about love, murder, sexual politics, social disintegration . . . and teaching old dogs new tricks