Watched “Night and the City” (Widmark, Tierney, more) on Friday, giggling. Widmark is a semi-sympathetic American hustler in ’40s London, the the film is largely shot on location. Widmark’s films around this time are usually eye-popping, and this was no exception. I think the last time I saw it was about a decade ago, circumstances long forgot. This vieweing, however, was oddly affected by an unwaaranted notion of geographic familiarity with riverbank London, which features prominently in the film.

I was mildly puzzled by this, having only passed through London once over a few days as a teenager, until I realized it was due to a video game I am playing on and off which features a grossly-accurate 3-D model of London during the Blitz, over which I, as a videogame player, fly over and over and over, with particular attention to an extended run along the Thames ending at the Tower of London, just beyond the Tower Bridge, which is the featured setting for the film’s conclusion.

It was one of those odd virtual familiarity experiences which were once confined to dreams, remembered dreams, and the deja vu experience. It still feels peculiar, despite the quotidian explication to hand.