To Sleep So As To Dream — To Sleep So As To Dream( Blu Ray)
From the mid-’80s To Sleep So As To Dream is a charming, at times magically enchanting blend of gumshoe detective mystery, tribute to the silent era, and fantasy. The film is scoped in black and white- and shifts between noirish moodiness and dreamy lushness, with the whole thing being an original blend of silent and subtle talky. Here from Arrow Video, both in the UK & US, is a Blu Ray release of the film- taking in a new commentary track from Japanese film experts Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp, and a selection of new & archive extras.
Appearing in the year 1986 To Sleep So As To Dream (aka Yumemiru yôni neuritis), was the first film from Kyoto born Kaizô Hayashi. He went on to date helm another thirteen films- these went from the questing costume fantasy Zipang (1990), Private investigator drama The Stairway To The Distant Past (1995), cat burgling sisters action-comedy Cat's Eye(1997), and most recently drama fantasy Bolt( 2019) which charts the loosening of a bolt in a nuclear power plant.
The film starts off by introducing us to a lightly quirky young detective duo- tall, Bespectacled and boiled egg eating Uotsuka (Shiro Sano) and smaller flat caped wearing sidekick Kobayashi (Koji Otake). They get hired by Madame Cherryblossom (Fujiko Fukamizu) who sends along with her ageing butler to detail the disappearance of her missing daughter Bellflower (Moe Kamura). As the film unfolds the pair get a series of messages and clues from those who have seemingly kidnapped Bellflower.
To begin with, the blend of silent and sound feels a little jarring/ odd- as we get traditional silent subtitles, then sudden use of sound- be it the sound of something, sparse dialogue, or subtle environmental sound. But fairly soon you get used to it, and this original blend makes the whole thing more magical. Also, throughout the film we get a wonderful use of music- be it electro ambience, thoughtful-to-soothingly bounding piano music, and lightly wonky oriental easy listening music.
The whole thing feels like a blend of Tin Tin and Rupert The Bear type detective investigation, with light noir-ish edges. With the tone shifting from lightly comic book detective action, to dreamy and at points twinkly magical/ surreal. It really is an enchanting trip of a film, which loving pays tribute to the era of silent film and quirky/ playful detective fare.
Moving onto the new Blu Ray- and we have a high def print of the film- this is very nice bringing out both the mystery & magic from the black & white stock. On the new extras side, we get a good selection of things- first, we have a commentary track from Japanese film experts Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp, and as you’d expect this is wonderful informed and insightful. The pair start off talking about how the film looks back at two beginnings- silent film in Japan, and early 80’s Japanese film. They talk about the festivals the film played back when it was released, though it never got a general release in the UK. They comment on the films wacky & interesting set design, and what some of it may mean. They talk about director Kaizô Hayashi- who apparently was twenty-seven when this film was made, going into detail his background, talking about how he got into film. They mention that the film had a tiny budget of five million yen/ $50,000- which is similar to the budget of a pink film. Later on, they talk about the first/ early films made in Japan, and comment on the early promotion of film in the country. They mention the connection some of the films crew have to Pink films, and much, much more- easily a play a few times track.
Otherwise, on the new extras front, we get two on-camera interviews- the first is with lead actor Shiro Sano, this runs just shy of the twenty-nine-minute mark. The second is with silent film narrator Benshi Midori Sawato, this runs around the eighteen-minute mark. We have Benshi Midori Sawato performing one of the scenes from To Sleep So As To Dream.
On the archive side of things, we have a year 2000 commentary track from director Kaizo Hayashi and lead actor Shiro Sano. We have a four-minute short about the film's restoration. Around three minutes of clips from original silent Japanese films. Trailers, image gallery, with the finished release come presented with an inlay booklet featuring new writing about the film by Aaron Gerow.
To Sleep So As To Dream really is a spellbinding and charming tribute to both early silent film and the lightly quirky side of the detective/ investigation genre- having a wonderful eye for subtle wonder, and a soothing dreaminess. With this new Arrow Video release offering up a great selection of new & archive extras.