La Boutique Obscure: 124 Dreams

No. 41: January 1971

The chase in Dublin

An action movie in color; the color is very flat, a fawn-toned monochrome, very “Hollywood” (like Douglas Sirk’s Captain Lightfoot or Raoul Walsh’s The World in His Arms).

It takes place in Dublin, in the XIXth century.

The single central character, whom I am shadowing, is a revolutionary chief who has either been handed over to the police or, rather, been sentenced to death by his former comrades.

He knows it.

He is walking with a small dog and he knows that as soon as two dogs come to track him it will be the signal for the assassins to show themselves.

He does not try to escape what is clearly inevitable; on the contrary, he keeps walking, shows his face all over town, goes into pubs, etc. People turn away from him, or look at him with hatred, spite or pity. But no dog will even come close to his dog.

But suddenly, at one point, the dog escapes her master and runs off.

Hasty run to catch her. For he is willing to die, but he does not want to know when and by whose hand.

Crossing courtyards

Scaling walls

Climbing stairs

Very upsetting: everything and everyone become threatening.

There are at least two shots of the same circular path (actually, the scene always goes in a circle and we end up where we began — like in an engraving by that Swiss artist whose name escapes me (Escher) or, rather, like being on a gigantic Mōbius strip.

There could be scenes with a bit of a “Pepe le Moko” feel to them.

At one point, a bit distressed, I try to “make the image go faster” (to watch myself run up the stairs faster) but I can’t.