Raul Ruiz 1941-2011

Yesterday I wrote a review of Raúl Ruiz's wonderful 4-1/2 hour film "The Mysteries of Lisbon," a sublime, joyous, and terrifying exploration of the link between story-telling and mortality. Today I learned that the brilliant, prolific Chilean filmmaker just died at the age of 70. Few other artists have exulted as feverishly in the imaginative power of cinema, or its potential for  metaphysical insight. In the five decades since his first feature "Three Sad Tigers"(1968), Ruiz has made an estimated 100 to 150 movies. "Lisbon," his last but one (another, "La noche de enfrente,"  is in post-production), is among his best, and serves as an uncanny epitaph to his career. It screens at the Brattle Theatre from August 26-28.