Night Across The Street

The vast majority of movies adhere to the basic tenets of narrative. They tell a story that is more or less linear, even if those events are shown to us out of order (a la Memento). There are, on the other hand, a number of art-house films that throw off the shackles of narrative and present themselves more like music does, with recurring themes reappearing throughout the piece. Raul Ruiz spent his career bending time and perception, and his dreamlike, melancholy-laced final picture, Night Across the Street, is no exception.

The movie centers on Don Celso (Sergio Hernandez), a soon-to-be forced retiree whom we first meet sitting at a desk in a po...