I had no idea what to expect when I sat down to watch City of Pirates. I’d read that it was beautiful and surreal, and it is, but that hardly begins to describe it. Isadore seems to be Everywoman: daughter, maid, prostitute. The boy is ageless, knowing, needy, dangerous – Peter Pan for a darker world. The images are lovely and ridiculous, full of humor and horror. Somehow the plot has eroded away, and only echoes remain. Yet, these are my echoes, my associations, my dreamscape. And I’ve just woken up!
I have sort of a mixed record with Raoul Ruiz (not his fault, mine). But, this movie is so perfect for me, its scary. It’s a many-layered, over-stuffed detective story that’s really just a framework for a comedy of ideas – the rival psychological associations, the ‘narrative syndrome’ guy, her mother’s Freudian dreams, her ex-husband’s book.† For a film inspired by true events, it’s a stroke of genius to invent the Universal Narrative psychology to ‘explain’ that she was acting out the original story. All the narrative games tickled my fancy, especially the game of games: “I’ll be you and you be me.” So crazy!
Plus, I’d watch Mathieu Almaric and Melvil Poupaud read the phone book, so there’s that, too.
If you’re watching with subtitles, as I was, it’s easy to miss a lot of visual clues and playfulness. I think a second watch is necessary, regardless. I got confused the first time by the switch between the diary narration and the present day. When the narrative syndrome guy made his second appearance, it was really disconcerting – like watching something in a mirror without realizing everything’s backwards. Which, of course, suits this movie down to the ground. It’s so much fun!
† "Bob writes children's books. Pascal's Book is by him."
"Why 'Pascal's Book'?"
"I wanted to explain Pascal's philosophy to a 10-year-old: my son."
"But [he] was 13 at the time."
"I'm a slow writer."
Maiden's Voyage 