What a waste of my time!!!

Disturbing yet enthralling

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This 1992 short film was the second in the Quay Brothers' "Stille Nacht" series. Each installment has nothing to do with the next, and like the previous installment ("Dramolet" from 1988) there is a soundtrack. While the soundtrack in that film didn't add that much to the overall effect, the music for "Are We Still Married?" really made the visuals haunting. Put together this is quite a creepy little movie.The film begins with flickering images of a eye and a bit of face. Later on, there's this handmade stuffed rabbit which moves by itself. A girl/puppet's stocking-covered leg rises and falls as the movie progresses, and a ball flickers. The music, which is literally a voice singing "are we still married" helps emphasize the title but otherwise this doesn't have much to do with what's happening on-screen. Like I said, though, it makes the visuals work well.Fans of surrealism will no doubt want to watch this short. The Quays are little-remembered today, but their work is available on YouTube and is worthwhile for anybody who enjoys Avant-garde filmmaking. If you're not a fan of it, then this won't make much sense otherwise and will come up as a pointless and boring movie.

The Quay Brother's "Stille Nacht" series is their more commercial work, though one without that knowledge would be hard pressed to see what makes these works any different stylistically and thematically from their "independant" works. This one, Stille Nacht II (or "Are We Still Married" after the song by His Name is Alive) is basically a music video, utilizing some repeated elements from Stille Nacht I.This short is kind of interesting to look at because it shows what can be done with music videos besides making them three-minute commercials for the band's own song you're already currently hearing. It's use is so effective that the style has been used by the band Tool (of which I am a fan) in their own stunningly claustrophobic stop-motion animation.However, later inspirations aside, the Brothers Quay unique mise-en-scene sticks out. A sort of Alice in Wonderland characterization changes pace completely into a rabbit that interacts with a ball that came from a woman's tear. Rather than creating the "Tortured soul" effect of a Tool music video, the Brothers Quay entrap the audience into the song itself, from a band I'm not actually familiar with, but which seems to sing about the decay of relationships even as the track itself sounds like it's decaying on an old cassette tape.--PolarisDiB

Spoilers herein.I have a more robust comment over on the `Films of the Brothers' page. This is one of 11 films on the DVD. It and its sequel, `Can't Go Wrong Without You,' are the very best of that collection. They are the most personal, based on reverse kabbalah and Alice in Wonderland, and I think the most accessible.I have never been so visually stimulated as in these two 3-4 minute films.Ted's evaluation: 3 of 4 -- Worth Watching

This is some of the Quay brothers best work. Mavericks of modern stop-motion animation, the Brothers Quay deliver a powerful and creepy vision of lost innocence in this all-too-short short film. The music -by the band His Name Is Alive- is mournful and creepy, and accentuates the somber black and white imagery in a world of dolls, broken toys, and decay. The characters flutter and jerk with unnatural movements while a normally inanimate objects hover and vibrate around them. To try and explain what is happening specifically in this film would be next to impossible, must be see to be believed. This film, as well as all Quay Brothers works, is recommended for anyone who enjoys surrealism or avant-garde film, particularly with a taste for corrosion. For other similar but more light-hearted works, check out the work of Czech animator Jan Svenkmeyer, who was a big influence on the work of the Quays.