Review of a Dream (Untitled)

Johnson has done it again. In this new short film about the revenge of an ambitious file clerk against two women for their intolerable moral oblivion, Johnson merges a quasi-surrealistic narrative style with icy perceptions of human nature and society. His ability to find plausible junctures to interweave seemingly unrelated plotlines was especially cunning: witness the scene in which the anti-hero comes across two masons discussing the character of Papageno in The Magic Flute while practising their secret handshake. All of the themes of belonging, secrecy, and desire that will ultimately propel him towards mischief are at play in this little vignette.

Johnson has also managed to cross genres in this new film. Is it, after all, a comedy about mayhem in corporate America in the spirit of Jerry Louis, or is it a psychological thriller a la Hitchcock? Johnson cannily captures the claustrophobic cinematography of the latter filmaker throughout, while the accidents on the elevator are nothing less than daffy.

All of the actors are unknown and unnamed -- it is possible that many of them are playing themselves. The character playing the anti-hero expressed much without speaking: watching him look at himself in the mirror while trying to manage his rapidly growing hair was truly haunting. But he did not do justice to his few lines -- it appeared that he wanted all of his thoughts to just radiate from him without his having to speak expressively. The judge's attempts to get the facts straight while at the same time balancing all of the tense legal questions that were before her were very memorable and convincing. On the whole, the casting was brilliant.

It's hard to come to conclusions about a film like this. It has multiple centers of meaning, with lines radiating outwards, beyond themselves. It seems a shame that I was the only one to see it -- there really is too much to convey in one brief column. It's cliffhanger ending can only leave us asking: What will that Johnson dream up next?