Can You Explain This?

Arlene Blackman Yolles ♦ March 31, 2015 ♦ 2 Comments

The other night, we sat down to watch a DVD from Netflix. Can’t remember the title. While the beginning credits were rolling, the following thoughts rolled through my head:

Hmmm, this is rated R for violence and language. I remember that when I was younger, films weren’t rated at all. In fact, I remember one that had it been rated, my dad might not have taken me to see it. He frequently took me with him to see foreign films because my mom didn’t enjoy reading the titles. One time, when I was about 14, he took me to see “Rififi”. In one scene, a man kissed his finger and then put that finger on his wife’s (clothed) breast. I later found out that dad was mortified and embarrassed that I had witnessed that!

Soon the DVD from Netflix began and in the very first scene, a character is strolling along a street and walked under a movie marquis. Guess what was playing at that theater? Rififi!! What’s the chance of that happening? It’s a movie from 1955! I was so shocked that I could hardly focus (turns out I didn’t have to focus much as I hated the movie and shut it off shortly thereafter.)

I promptly put “Rififi” on my Netflix queue, moved it to position #1, and watched it last night, anxious to see if my memory about the embarrassing scene was correct. The film is about 4 men in France who plan an elaborate jewel heist, much like the 1974 film, “Topkapi,” which is directed by the same person, Jules Dassin. There are scenes of violence as well as abuse towards women. In one, a character forces his two-timing girlfriend to undress (off-screen) and whips her with a belt. Evidently, that didn’t bother my dad. But, sure enough, about 45 minutes into the film, there’s that finger breast-kissing scene! Mere seconds, it was more touching than lewd. Funny that it upset my dad so much and made a lasting impression on me, so much so that I remembered it 50 years later!

The question remains: my thoughts at the rolling of the credits, the film’s title coming up in the first scene:

A Twilight Zone Happening?

A remarkable coincidence?

Paranormal activitiy?

Precognition?

Or SOMETHING ELSE?