To Sleep So as to Dream

Kaizo Hayashi's 1986 Japanese film follows two detectives searching for a missing girl. The client is a former silent film actress; the clues are strange and do not connect. The form suits the subject. It was shot almost entirely silent; the dialogue is given in intertitles and the sound consists only of music and effects. The images are black and white and the period recreation detailed. The narrative merges with a lost reel of a silent film. The girl being sought is in fact inside that film; the narrative joins the real to the fictional and keeps its explanation for the end. It is Hayashi's first feature. Who it's for: those who like silent cinema and formal experiment. Who it's not for: viewers expecting direct storytelling; the film makes its own rules and does not explain them.