Film: 112 Weddings

The film for this evening, 112 Weddings, is only showing in the Odeon Panton Street. I went to the early evening showing.. it's near Piccadilly Circus, so the Piccadilly line it was! So, a brisk walk to Earl's Court. The train was packed.. usually is, on this line, especially at this time - I had to stand, both ways. When you get there, you need the Haymarket exit - it's not immediately obvious; follow the signs for the Trocadero initially. When you exit, double back, take a right at the horse statue for Haymarket, and a left onto Panton Street. I remembered the way - pretty much - this time!

Mind you, I was somewhat delayed by one of the more interesting street entertainers I've seen..

Look carefully.. it's Yoda, complete with walking stick. Or, in this case, I guess, floating stick..

Anyhoo. When I got to the cinema and bought my ticket, I had a pleasant surprise - I'd forgotten that you get a 25% discount as a member, for Film Fan Mondays!

Despite this, the screen was practically empty. There were a few trailers, for films I might be interested in, and the feature started. This is a documentary, made by a New York documentarian who shoots wedding videos on the side, and was interested in what happened to the couples afterwards. He's shot 112 in all.. don't worry, they're not all featured! As he explains, he contacted them, and some had moved away, some were divorced and didn't want to talk, or just didn't want to talk for other reasons. In the end, he got eight couples to agree to talk to him, their interviews interspersed with shots from their wedding videos.

And what an interesting and engaging film it makes! These are interesting people, quite eloquent for the most part. Some are very funny. Most are still together and have kids, some have very sad stories to tell. Two of the couples that talk to him are divorced - actually, of one of these couples, only one of the two people agrees to an interview. It's a fascinating peek into other people's lives, of course - but they're also asked their views on marriage, how things, and their opinions, have changed since the wedding day, what the hardest thing has been since. Amidst all the fun, there are some very serious stories. And it's absolutely gripping. All the great themes of life are here. Strongly recommended.

As I was walking back to the station, an American couple asked me whether they were headed the right way to "Trafaglar" Square. I've only been there a few times, never from where I was then standing, and I wasn't sure. "Never mind," they said, and continued in the same direction. Of course, I was now curious, and consulted the first map I found - they're prominent on the main streets here. Well, they had been heading in the right direction, so I didn't feel too bad. As I rounded the horse fountain on my way back to the station, I noticed that Yoda had left. Floated off, I suppose. I also noticed a man in a suit sitting on the edge of the fountain, wearing a clown mask. And I noticed his scarf, which was the same that Yoda had been wearing..

Anyway! Tomorrow, having rejected a couple of films on the simple grounds of weirdness, top of the list is Omar, a love story centring on a Palestinian terrorist. From the trailer, it looks excellent, and but for going to The Scoop last week, I would've gone to this. About time I saw it - also showing exclusively at the Odeon Panton Street.