If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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.

Hmm...interesting! What a wonderful little work of dark fantasy art. I just love everything there is to see and breathe in, it's all so spooky and sad, and the haunting wistful song matches the phantasmagorical cold imagery perfectly. This short may indeed be very short, but it has strange beauty and a great profoundness to it that I found quite brilliant. When I first saw them, I found this and all the other Stille Nachts to be some of the most soul-stirring animations I'd ever seen. This is my favourite of the four. You definitely get your money's worth for the three minutes. Such magicians of their craft, were these Brothers Quay. The humorous anthropomorphic bunny and what is seen of the "girl" instantly brings to mind all of the classic elements of Alice in Wonderland. The tone was absolutely one of darkness but I didn't find it morbid or depressing. It felt more like a lulling, soothing kind of darkness to me. I wonder what it's supposed to mean... Anything? Nothing? Whatever you want it to be? Or just perhaps, it's a window into the mind of some poor terminally damaged soul who for whatever reason, is unwilling, or unable to mature, someone who is not able to put aside childish things and is wholly ignorant of reality hammering to be let in-someone who is so very tired that they desire nothing more than to sleep forever and disappear into nothingness... -Oh my! Might come off as a little maudlin, but that's how I opted to deduce things. I love the beautiful final image of the eyes that so heavily close that are clearly not the eyes of a child. There's such finality there. It's like it's saying: it's time to rest, to drift, to fall, down into the shadows...where you belong.

It is very hard express with words the unique beauty that the "Stille Nacht" shorts from the Brothers Quay have...Those brief, little shorts, instead of telling a story, express feelings, thoughts, but not in a ordinary way: Here, the eerie atmosphere and the strangeness is combined with an almost whimsical feeling of innocence and wonder, something that makes those "Stille Nacht" shorts an extraordinary, captivating quality, that could be only done using the animated medium.Those shorts are pretty much like little visual "poems", where the images serve to recreate the fantastic (and rather ambiguous) world of the dreams.This is is truly beautiful and fascinating. A must see.

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