15 Dec Night Across the Street (2012)

Prospero’s Poems

I am an admirer of Ruiz; I’ve selected two of his films for my list of films I believe you should see before you die. It is a very personal list, consisting more or less of the films that have helped build my life. For me, some films reach deep and co-create not just memories, but mechanisms of imagination that bring me both joy and pain — but living pain.

Said another way, these artists live in me. I knew Ruiz was dying some time after he did. I knew he made this film, and that it would affect me. So I have let it lie unseen in my hope chest for a dozen years. I’ve been afraid to watch it, to tell the truth, and afraid of the truth.

Now at quite a few years older than his death, this poet in me visits this poem from him while in the hospital after a worrying event.

I am finding it a complex work. As usual, the narrative is deeply cinematic, layered, and non-linear. Events in one dimension and imagined era influence others with little regard to sense but every tick makes sense.

I am sad to lose a friend, but pleased he could say goodbye in such a way. I recommend you keep this in reserve until you think you need it.

Until then let ‘Mysteries of Lisbon’ be your friend.

Posted in 2024

Ted’s Evaluation — 3 of 3: Worth watching.

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