Film: The Falling

So, the Meetup Film Nite group organiser specifically invited me to come see The Falling with them tonight, in the Odeon Panton Street. Maybe, I thought - this is a nice bunch of people, although the film isn't rated too highly on IMDB. So I thought I'd see what else was on. When it was looking like a film anyway, I decided, what the hey, I'm not that pushed about what's top of my list, I might as well go to this.

Now, the organiser of this group is a decent chap, but not the best organiser I've seen. He advertised this as "Free!" But in the next paragraph, he mentioned how cheap the cinema was.. now why would he do that, I thought, if it's free?! So I checked with him, and sure enough, we had to get our own tickets. It was free in the sense that he wasn't charging anything himself.

Could I have predicted the storm my question would provoke? I'd asked, and he answered, on the event page, so other members could see. In a furious exchange today, two members cancelled, as a direct result: one because she had thought it was free, and now felt ripped off, and the other because she hadn't noticed the word "free" till I mentioned it, and although she didn't mind paying, she thought he answered her in a "smart ass" way when questioned about it. O dear. I still intended to go, and booked a ticket - no booking fee, and handier than buying on the spot - and even put the cheap ticket price (£6) on the site to try to mediate, but the damage was done. He really needs to be less ambiguous.

I've been here several times before, but it's been a little while, so I did just need to check which street (Haymarket) I needed to turn down from Piccadilly. Setting out, I just missed a train and had to wait five minutes for another, but it's really not that far, so I didn't worry too much. The Piccadilly Line was as crowded as ever, especially with the deluge that joined in Knightsbridge - and there was an incident at Green Park, where a party got separated, not all able to get on at the same time. One guy tried to get the doors open again, but eventually had to give up. I had to push through a crowd when we got to Piccadilly, and had visions of not being able to get off before the train left again - but I managed.

Amazingly, I found the right exit - initially, take the one for Eros, it branches to give you the one for Haymarket. And you climb out through Cool Britannia - well, it is actually the closest exit. It took forever to cross the road, but I finally made it to the cinema, picked up my ticket, and made my way straight in - I couldn't see anyone I knew. I did later spy the organiser, sitting in the very front row, and another person I knew from the group sitting behind him, but didn't speak to anyone until after.

This film deals with a fainting epidemic in a girls' school in the late 60s. I wasn't expecting too much from it - it has a bad rating on IMDB, and I was dreadfully afraid it was going to be similar to other things I'd seen. I've seen it described as a psychological horror - any horror in it is far too weak to earn it that title. But I am pleased to say that it's not at all as bad as I feared. It's very sensually shot, and there's a very cloying atmosphere to the film, as epitomised by the relationships between the girls. All very touchy-feely, in a way that I found uncomfortable. However, the story does eventually resolve and make sense - it's just a shame they couldn't have got to the point sooner.

Afterwards, four of us met in the lobby. One had left early in the film, and gone to see Whiplash instead! None of us were that impressed with The Falling, which should make the talk about it next week more interesting. (If it happens - I can't find any mention of it now.) Anyway, we moseyed along to a café our host recommended - turned out to be a little Vietnamese BYOB place - Viet Pho. So we B'd our OB, and took a table near the kitchen. It's a tiny place, with hard seats, but decent food at reasonable prices. Family-run, I believe. The conversation was good, and the meal was a great way to round off the evening.

I was back on the Tube with the organiser, and we had a good chat about this and that, but the kerfuffle on Meetup never came up. And, of course, he's already trying to get me confirmed for next week's meeting (which, as I say, I now can't find on Meetup..) Anyhoo, for tomorrow I would've liked to go to a piano recital, but they only had £50 tickets left, and I wasn't THAT pushed. They're sold out now anyway. So it's another Meetup, with the Crick Crack Storytelling Club again. They're meeting in Camden (another long trip) to tell the tale of Robin Hood, and other English tales of dissent..