Program – 2 by Ruiz

A Chilean director who moved to France after being targeted as a young filmmaker by the Pinochet regime, Raul Ruiz is both surreal and supremely rational. He is one of my new discoveries for 2009, even though he began his career in the late 1960’s, and continues to direct features today.

“The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting” (French) can be explained, but I shouldn’t do that. Made in 1978, it’s a dry, funny, and slightly creepy labyrinth, and makes fun of things you thought were profound when you were in college, but forgot about when you realized that they can’t make you more money, get you in a satisfying relationship, or bring you closer to your Creator. Watch this and be reminded that these are still powerful enough to parody.


In 2000, Ruiz made “Comedy of Innocence” (French). Think of how you would have reacted to the ending of “The Sixth Sense”, if it turned out to be that the Bruce Willis character was just a real quiet guy, and there never were any ghosts. That’s the feeling I got watching this movie. I liked it.