Ten Nights Of Dreams (Cinema Epoch DVD)

 

Picture: C-     Sound: C-     Extras: D     Feature: C

 

 

Ten Nights of Dreams is a film that demands to be watched more than once.  Consisting of ten vignettes and a frame story by eleven different directors, the collection runs the gamut of the avant-garde from creepy to amusing, from plot-based to “Plot? Who’s Plot?”  The only unifying factor across the board is an ethereal quality which is a constant reminder of the pretext that each vignette is supposed to be a dream.  But the real reason why this film needs to be watched at least twice is because it is impossible to make heads of tails of any of it until after you’ve watched it once, then read the essay in the special features, and then watched it again.  And even then if you can make some sort of sense out of this film, then my hat is off to you.

 

The essay, by Japanese critic Nicholas Rucka is very enlightening, but sadly it’s also the only special feature on the disc that is worth watching.  The rest are just different versions of the trailer and a stills gallery.  The poor picture quality on this disc is really a shame because a few of the vignettes have the potential to be visually compelling if nothing else.  The audio is also sub-par but this isn’t as disappointing because with one exception the vignettes are all subtitled.  The picture is in 16:9 anamorphically enhanced widescreen format.

 

This is a film for those who are very enthusiastic about surreal films and have a special knack for decoding complex symbolism.  The more amusing among the vignettes can be enjoyed without worrying too much about what they mean, but there are only a couple of these out of the ten.  This is certainly not a popcorn movie and would prove difficult for even the most astute film scholars.  Whether you see this as a warning sign or a challenge, well that’s up to you.

 

 

-   Matthew Carrick