(La vocation suspendue). “There is a phrase ascribed to both St. Augustine
and Stalin: in a besieged citadel, all dissidence is treason,” notes Ruiz
of this dizzying tale. “Thus my counter-argument: in order to survive, all
institutions must behave as besieged citadels.” In this adaptation of a
Pierre Klossowski novel, there exist three unfinished films by the
Catholic Church from different eras, all documenting rival factions
debating truth and interpretation. Suspended Vocation is all three films
as one; like the ideas of the characters in the films, the different
actors, film stocks, and aesthetics also compete for supremacy. Here, it’s
not just the Church that’s besieged, but cinema itself. Jason Sanders
Written by Ruiz, based on the novel by Pierre Klossowski. Photographed by
Sacha Vierny. With Gabriel Gascon, Didier Flamand, Pascal Bonitzer,
Maurice Bénichou. (107 mins, In French with English subtitles, B&W, 16mm,
From BFI Collections, permission Valeria Sarmiento)
(In conjunction with The Library Lover: The Films of Raúl Ruiz)
The Return of a Library Lover is the title of an autobiographical short by
Chilean director Ra.l Ruiz, and looking over his remarkable filmography
it’s easy to see why: adaptations of Dante, Kafka, Proust, Calderón,
Pierre Klossowski, Camilo Castelo Branco, and Sadegh Hedayat dot his
career, while a list of citations could include Borges, Lacan, Le Petit
Prince, and nineteenth-century Catholic thought—often in the same film.
Intensely cerebral, his films are also highly entertaining, often
hilarious, and always surprising. “The world of his movies . . . is at
once soothingly, elegantly familiar and booby-trapped with surprises,”
wrote A. O. Scott. “There are sudden disappearances, long-buried secrets
coming to light, supernatural happenings and bizarre coincidences. In his
universe, improbability is the rule.”
Born in Chile in 1941, Ruiz studied law and theology before attending film
school in Argentina. Returning to Chile, he completed only a handful of
works before the 1973 military coup forced him into exile in France, where
he began a nearly forty-year career spanning several continents. Early
successes funded by European television led to bigger budgets—by the
mid-1990s Ruiz was able to work with such international stars as John
Malkovich (Time Regained), Catherine Deneuve (Geneologies of a Crime), and
Marcello Mastroianni (Three Lives and Only One Death).
Ruiz passed away in August of 2011, having completed one last film in his
native Chile after the international success of Mysteries of Lisbon. His
films embrace a “logic governed by miracles,” as he wrote, a “poetics of
cinema” that remains unmatched in its freedom.
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