Movielogr
To Sleep So as to Dream (1986)
Directed by Kaizô Hayashi
Twitter Facebook Google+Mystery | Comedy | Experimental
Overview
An aging silent film actress hires a private eye and his wacky but helpful assistant to track down her missing daughter, Bellflower. The two follow a succession of bizarre, obscure clues, until they track down the location of the kidnappers and the daughter.
Length 81 minutes
Actors
Shirô Sano | Moe Kamura | Fujiko Fukamizu | Shunsui Matsuda | Yoshio Yoshida | Akira Ôizumi | Morio Agata | Kazunari Ozasa | Kenji Endo | Baiken Jukkanji | Kyôko Kusajima | Tatsuo Nakamoto | Koji Otake
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/30/2021 | TV | Streaming | Video on Demand | 7 stars |
| (Average) 7 stars |
Viewing Notes
This movie, a new 2K restoration, looks as if it was produced sometime in the last few years. Not just the crispness of the print (restored from 16mm!) but everything… which is perhaps an odd thing to say about a throwback movie that’s in black & white and also a silent film. But it really does look like it was a recent production not a mid-80s release. So props for that and for making a genuinely fascinating movie. All these pieces don’t really come together by the end (or during the movie for that matter) but I really love the big swing to conceive this and make it.
Set in the sixties if I’m doing the math correctly yet looks more early to mid-50s, it’s the story of an aging actress that hires a couple of bumbling detectives to solve a mystery and rescue her kidnapped daughter. The dialogue is silent except for taped recordings. The sound design is also silent except for a few audio cues like when a phone rings. It’s also a movie about movies. This is a very unusual combo of technique and story that must be admired even if it doesn’t quite work. I would absolutely buy this if the 2K gets released.
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