Suture's story of murder, amnesia, dreams, and mistaken
identity is impressively well crafted, and so too is the stylish black and
white cinematography, yet for this film to make the most sense, it would
help if you pay no attention whatsoever to these visuals, as the dialogue
(which mostly makes sense in and of itself) does not quite line up
logically with what actually appears on the screen.
I wondered what was wrong with these people. Were they blind?
Were they so completely wrapped up in the aura of the scenes and the
twisty paths of the script, that they did not notice that the real
suspect was white and the mistaken suspect was black, two obviously
different looking people? Hello!
Outtakes from this film must be hysterical. "But he's black! Bare
with me, but it's possible he's not the same person!!" The writers for
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 could have a field day with this film.
This bizarre experiment in casting could be interpreted in many
ways. My attempts to find a satisfactory explanation have so far been
exercises in futility. Perhaps the casting decision was made in order to
let the viewer easily distinguish between the characters? Perhaps it was a
picture of a society literally blind to race? My most solid conclusion is
that it was a last minute smoke screen employed to keep one's mind off all
the minor flaws, while driving it to spend its reasoning powers on a new
major puzzlement, a puzzlement that would hopefully be viewed as
brilliantly adventurous in nature.
So does this bizarre twist work? Yes, and no. It both frustrates
and fascinates. And I can not quite decide if the idea was ludicrous or
inspired! Would the movie have been better with a more obvious casting?
Who knows.
So yes, it's an easy film to joke about. But it's also a film that
seems to demand admiration and respect, as enterprising, independent films
often do.