Stille Nacht IV: Can't Go Wrong Without You (1993) User Reviews

Dark and disturbing

[Polaris_DiB · 8/10 · 2 March 2007]

The Quay Brothers return to the Stille Nacht series, they return to His Name is Alive, and they make another music video based around the music and the repeated images of previous in the series (minus Stille Nacht III), and somehow they make it more disturbing and ephemeral than ever before.

Not to describe this as plot, but in this short the white rabbit returns to chase an egg and try and save it from other forces. Meanwhile, the figure with the socks (I consider her a representational relation to Alice) bleeds. The Freudian aspects of this film are more disturbing than I want to get into, but the actual interplay itself seems like the Quay Brother's darkest nightmare.

His Name is Alive's grinding, degrading music fits well into the mood of this piece. After seeing this and Stille Nacht II (Are We Still Married?), I think I'm going to make it a point to check out this band. What do you know? The Quays' more commercial work has helped actually sell something! --PolarisDiB

Darkness becomes substance

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 14 June 2013]

This mighty fine little entry in the Quay's dark repertoire of work is apparently some kind of sequel to the utterly brilliant "Are We Still Married?" Stille Nacht short, a magnificent and twisted animation that I deeply connected with, and love that much more than this because its themes and imagery felt more satisfactory in their floaty vagueness, and it was just so freakin' sheer out there that the viewer could really make of it whatever they wanted to, putting all kinds of crazy theories regarding what it all meant... But this one has certain stuff in it that felt to me very linear and grounding and are in fact quite disturbingly stark in what certain elements of it probably mean. There's the drops of blood that fall from the girl, and the egg-themes of puberty? Suicide? Perhaps rape even? But I loved the return to the same surreal mental realm from before, they did a great job of recapturing the intense yet whimsical atmosphere. And it was fun to see the familiar characters, the lively ragged old bunny sprite, the unmoving and unknowable girl who seemingly must forever hide her true face... And of course everything just looked perfectly Gothic and amazingly smooth with the grand decor and the spooky shadowed staircase and the magical keyholes, and the cool sinister bogeyman type character skulking around who seeked to steal the precious caged "egg." Some of the words of the melodious funereal song that accompanies this all-too brief fantasy vision are very poetic and beautiful, while others are downright scary. These shadows are still beautiful and so soothe thy wayward soul.... This is one of the Quay's best. Can't go wrong, *with* it.

An incredible music video

[anirak_anna · 10/10 · 9 March 2005]

Imagine a music video with the sets of a Carl Th. Dreyer film, animation that goes from dolls to pixalated humans, set to the Lynchian pop of His Name Is Alive.

If your confused, just find a copy of Kino Video's _Brothers Quay Collection_. I was in New Orleans and staying at a friend's. I still hadn't caught on to DVD, but he had a player in his apartment. So I went to the Virgin mega-store down the street and found this DVD in their special interests section. I was quite disturbed at first, but years later this (and many other Quay works) has become a major influence on my own music videos.

If you are a fan of early cinema and His Name Is Alive (or anything else on the 4AD label (This Mortal Coil, Cocteau Twins, Pixies) then you should really check this piece out. The DVD contains 11 films and is usually priced at around $20.

Julie Taymor's _Frida_ features the animation of the Quay Brothers in the dream that Frida has in the hospital after her accident. Their animation was disgustedly trimmed and edited for the film, but if you've seen it, you at least have an idea of the brilliance these twin brothers are capable of.

And while your out buying stuff, see if you can find a copy of _Mouth to Mouth_ by His Name Is Alive. It contains the song _Can't Go Wrong Without You_ and the rest of the album is great as well. I found an unopened copy of it on eBay for a fair price. It seems that all the really good music, videos, and film go out of print.

The dream continues...

[Rectangular_businessman · 9/10 · 27 February 2012]

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.

Huh?! What?! What?!

[planktonrules · 7 January 2013]

This is a very arresting short film--one that is truly bizarre. In fact, it's so bizarre I am not even sure if I can adequately score this one. I liked it--I just am not sure I even understand what I just saw! Yes, folks it's THAT strange. Imagine taking a film by Jan Svankmajer (much like his very disturbing film "Alice") and mixing it with a VERY gothy soundtrack--that is what you get in "Stille Nacht IV"--a music video created by Timothy and Quay. Much of the story is done using common items and animated using stop-motion. The song is "Can't Go Wrong Without You" and is written and performed by "His Name Is Alive". All together, it is very creepy and very spellbinding. I have no idea if I liked it or not, but it sure piqued my curiosity and has me wanting to see more of their work!

The penultimate episode

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 4 August 2015]

This is the fourth of (so far) five entries by the Brothers Quay to their "Silent Night" series. It was made in 1994, so over 20 years ago, and 2 years after the third entry. The runtime is pretty much the same at 4 minutes. Only the first film is considerably shorter at not even 2 minutes. All of them are in black-and-white and have a creepy tone attached to them. Here the filmmaker twins bring back the rabbit and the girl in the long stockings from the second film. But be assured that bunnies in the Quay films do not look cute. Sadly, they do not look as interesting as I hoped they would. All in all, a film as mediocre as the previous one. I really hope they at least manage to end the series on a high note.

What?! More stockinged ankles?

[Tornado_Sam · 31 March 2018]

This is the fourth Quay Brothers' film in the Stille Nacht series, and while most of the shorts in the series have no connection whatsoever to each-other, this short does. As with "Are We Still Married?" the music is again by This Name is Alive. And yet again, the moving ankles of the doll are here, only this time on a scale. However, there's a variety of other themes that run in here: a creepy-looking rabbit (which we also saw in "Are We Still Married?"), ghostly figures which are only half there, etc. There's also some dark imagery, such as what looks like blood seeping out of a crack.

Again, the music has nothing to do what is happening onscreen but I suppose that's a music video for you. At first, the music sounded odd and didn't seem to go with anything onscreen, but after a bit I grew to like the soundtrack. Mind you, I am actually a classical music fan. But I liked this. All in all, fans of the Quay Brothers or music videos in general will want to watch it. Though there isn't a plot, the Quay Brothers show how film can be an art form without taking too much of your time up and yet can still capture your attention.