The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting by Raoul Ruiz 1979

Ruiz made complex, lyrical, philosophical films...La vida es sueno is my favorite, in which a Chilean political prisoner going to prison deliberately remembers the names of individuals in his political organization by equating names to specific lines and images from Calderon de la Barca's famous play. He continually revisits the play in prison to recall the names of his comrades and upon release tries to re-organize his underground organization through the use of the Calderon de la Barca play.

I once saw Raoul Ruiz at the Film Center of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he yelled at me for asking a stupid question (I can't remember the question, I just remember his scorn!). But one guy at whom he didn't yell asked a very good question: "Your films are so complex..but there are never any bad guys.  Don't you want to just sit down and do a cops and robbers chase film some day?"  Ruiz then said, "No, because I don't want to represent any 'obstacles' in my films. I don't think obstacles or resistance exists as it is commonly portrayed. There are never any antagonists in my films."

One other thing he said that I remembered was that he felt the theater was Catholic and the Cinema was Protestant.  In Catholic churches there is always a red candle that signifies the 'real presence of God.' Protestant churches do not purport to have the real presence of God. So he claimed that theater is more Catholic in that  you have a real presence there which is lacking in film. Even if it is not used, the possibility for real engagement will exist in theater, but will never exist in film.

Here's a sample of his amazing work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYSQa76sxsw&index=1&list=PLD0C980EFBD266E1D