Stille Nacht I: Dramolet (1988)

Stephen and Timothy Quay made quite a few animated shorts, but most of them were much longer than this. In fact, this is no doubt their shortest film. There is not that much to it. It's barely a minute long, and another reviewer said that was too short. Well, actually, I think that might be all the better, to leave the viewer hanging like that. It really doesn't need anymore.The film is very incoherent, and it was meant to be. It consists of a magnet spinning in place, and an animated puppet (which is a little creepy-looking) watching. It's a very simple set-up, yet is quite nightmarish. The Quay Bros made a series of Stille Nacht short films and this is the first. The others I'll definitely have to look at. Their other films are probably better in some regards, but this is an interesting diversion. If you're a fan of these surrealist art shorts like I am, then this little movie will meet your fancy.

This is the kind of short that I could see several times, and it never fails to impress me: In only a minute, and without any dialogue, this fascinating short directed by the Quay Brothers ("Street of Crocodiles") has not only a wonderful, dream-like atmosphere and a magnificent visual style, but also posses a unique sense of beauty and lyricism that is hard to find in any other kind of film, even in those movies that try to hard to be "poetical" and "subjetive".However, this manages to work incredibly well, turning the whimsical qualities of the dreams into stop-motion animation. I think that if this short were made in live-action, it just won't have the same effect.

This short is utterly delightful. There's not much to it in terms of what is available to be seen and commented on, but there is a lot to it in terms of what was done and how. Instead of flecking their sets with dust and hair, the brothers Quay place a magnet in a field and let the magnet play with all the little magnetic fragments. It's creepy... but it's fun! I honestly don't know what to make of the babydoll that watches the whole thing, eventually to turn and attempt to eat a meal, but it doesn't make me want to eat anything anytime soon! I think this is more something the brothers have done in order to experiment with something they haven't yet put into a longer film, but wanted to do regardless.--PolarisDiB

This movie comes straight out of your worst nightmares. I remember watching it when I was 13 years old; I had a fever and was staying at home. I could not forget this film until 16 years later, when I finally found who did it (and got the DVD).There's no plot whatsoever in this movie - I guess that's what makes it so special. As every other film by the Brothers Quay, this is a disjointed trip into someone's imagination. The best description I can find of it is that it's the closest thing I've ever seen to a dream - no wonder I thought for a while this movie didn't exist, and that I had dreamed it!The only thing going against it is that it's just too short - it was ideal for MTV, circa 1988, but it definitely leaves you expecting something more out of it.