It was pouring this evening, so if I hadn't already booked to see Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana, I mightn't have bothered. But I had booked, it having already half sold out, so off I ventured, into the rain, dodging the large puddles when a fast moving vehicle was ploughing towards them. It was at the BFI, which meant catching the Tube - which I did from West Kensington, being the closest station to work, and given that it was on early enough that I left from there.
Handily enough, they now distribute Evening Standards at the entrance, I see! Good idea - they typically store them a bit down from the entrance, and I, for one, didn't realise for ages that they had them at all! I was waiting a bit for the train, and when it came, it was the most packed train I've been on for a long while. The hazards of leaving at rush hour. Anyway, I squashed on, and indeed, was lucky to have got on there, considering the crowds later. There were a number of stations where there just wasn't room for everyone to get on - St James's Park was a notable example. And for most of the journey, I felt like a sardine. It was a relief when my stop finally came. And it wasn't raining - although it did start again when I was about halfway across the bridge. Not as heavy as before, though.
I knew my time to get to the film would be tight. It was scheduled to start at 6.20, and the BFI has a strict policy about latecomers. It states in the terms and conditions that you can be up to 10 minutes late, and I just made it within that timeframe. With the Tube being so crowded, you see, it had slowed things down, or I'd have done better. Longer times for people to get on and off, more people getting trapped in doors, which meant they opened again and departure was delayed. The BFI also warns that, if you're late, you may not get the seat you booked. That's what happened to me - I was let in, but they don't like to have latecomers push past others, and since there was someone at the end of my row, I was asked to take a seat at the front, since the front two rows had no-one at the aisle. Fair enough, and I sat in the second row, which was fine. And someone else came into the front row a couple of minutes later. I must conclude, though, that they've relaxed their latecomers ban, because a third woman arrived about half an hour in, and sat in the front row! obligingly ducking so as not to obscure others' view.
So, this film is about a couple of Finns who decide to go for a drive. I was too late to see their precise motivation. The film is set, by the look of it, in the 60s and is shot in black and white. They're a dopey pair. They duly pick up a pair of female hitchhikers (one of whom is called Tatjana), who set about flirting with them, but this pair are as oblivious as can be, with barely a word out of them, despite the girls' efforts. Will the ladies ever have their way? Basically, it's a pleasant, deadpan comedy. Catch it on telly, if it comes on and you have a free hour and a bit - it's not terribly long.
And so, back to Ireland for the weekend, where it will probably rain even worse than here. Next Monday, I was expecting that the highest rated film would be The Wolf of Wall Street, so imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a Pakistani film, Waar - apparently the highest grossing film ever in Pakistan, it's based on the true story of the fight against the Taliban. So I'm going to see that instead. By bus, and not at rush hour, so shouldn't have the trouble I had tonight!
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