Lizards on the screen

As a child, Juris loved Westerns. “All movies, truth be told. On Saturdays the local cinema showed three feature films and a continuing serial for the price of one ticket. We came out blind as bats after three feature films and the latest installment of a Flash Gordon serial.” Juris the movie lover was frustrated in Viet Nam, where most of the time movies were “an unsynchronized, stuttering mess. Can’t wait to go watch a flic in its entirety upon my return to the world, one with no breaks and shakes and lizards on the screen.” His movie wish list for his return to ‘the world’ included Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet,” “Blow Up,” a second viewing of “The Sleeping Car Murders,” and anything new from Bergman. (He was also looking forward to seeing “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” on stage.) In the meantime, he had to content himself with the odd assortment of films that made its way to his remote province: “They’re showing ‘Madame X’ again – that old Lana Turner tear jerker. It would be a fair bit of acting if only they would dispense with the dialogue. A great silent flic it would make. I caught most of it the other night in typical Phu Bon fashion: the first reel second, the second reel first. Didn’t affect the film in the least.”