It was film today. And the state broadcaster, RTÉ, was doing its standard bank holiday thing of flinging lots of films at us - so that's how the day started. I was delighted, checking the schedule, to see that they were showing Hamlet! So that occupied a few hours.. Turned out to star David Tennant as the hapless Danish prince whose father dies, and whose mother marries her late husband's brother, the new king (both men played by Patrick Stewart).
And an excellent production it is - I'd expect no less from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Performed in modern dress, as is now standard for this play - it is perfectly translatable to different times, different settings.. I must give a particular shout-out to Hamlet's poor girlfriend, Ophelia, played by Mariah Gale, who gives a striking performance as the girl who, thinking her beloved has gone mad (and the more so when he kills her father), ends up going mad herself, for real. Hamlet himself was played with a persistent manic disposition - which might have been appropriate, but for me, it'll take a lot to beat Andrew Scott's stunningly understated performance in the same role, a few years ago! Wow, doesn't feel that long.
In the evening, we had A Dog's Purpose. On at the time when they normally show kids' films, this is one for all dog lovers. Won't be a dry eye in the house for this tale of a dog that gets reincarnated through several lives (very cute, every time), only to end up back with his original owner (now a lot older, and played by Dennis Quaid) as a different dog. And the lesson he learns? Have fun, and if you can help someone, do. Aww..
Finally, tonight, I watched the second half of The Promise. Set during the First World War, this focuses on the plight of ethnic Armenians living in Turkey - their expulsion and mass execution came to be known as the Armenian genocide, making this the first time that the word "genocide" was coined. And that is suitably shocking, and worth highlighting - seems that Turkey still denies it was a genocide. The love story attached to it is less convincing, and I could have done without it. Also, having missed the first half, I never did find out what "promise" is alluded to in the title! Shucks.
For the active part of my film viewings, I decided to expand my film list - and so I checked the myriad of emails I've been getting, advertising things to do. Including film. Came across an interesting website - IdealFound claims to let you stream for free, and has a terrific library! Filtering by highest-rated on that site, I came across the Planet Earth documentary.. but when I had a go at streaming it, as a test, I was made to sign up for an account. Fair enough - except I seemed to have been included, automatically, on a free five-day Premium trial, and you pay for Premium. Unsure whether I'd be automatically signed up for Premium at the end of that, and finding at least Episode 1 of the series on YouTube, I cancelled my account.
Now, the YouTube episode is split into different, short videos - which is mildly annoying. More annoying by far is that some of them are blocked, here! I tried setting up another IdealFound account - but it wasn't accepting either of the cards I tried. Probably won't let me set up another account, having cancelled the first. So, YouTube it was - and what I saw was spectacular enough to be worth the effort! It's not often I bother to watch YouTube videos in fullscreen - I did, for this! It is stunning, with amazing cinematography that ranges from shots from space, to sweeping aerial shots of incredible landscapes and animal migrations. All the way down to intensely closeup wildlife shots - from polar bears to birds of paradise. I spent my whole time gasping, enthralled. No wonder it was, apparently, the BBC's most expensive documentary ever to make. And all with the entertaining narrative of Sir David Attenborough. You really have to give this a try. I only watched (most of) one episode, but I would like to see more.. watch this space.
On Sunday evenings, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) seems to be making a habit of watching the plays streamed on the Hampstead Theatre website - on their last day of availability. Of course, they do it too late in the day for me to attend - so I just watch earlier. This week, it's Wonderland - so that's likely to occupy me tomorrow.
And on Monday, again, we get the results of the London Literary Walks weekly quiz. Great idea! Of course, this would be the month that the walks would normally start up again - this will just have to do us for the foreseeable.
That evening, UITCS has yet another event organised - this time, a YouTube viewing of the opera, La Giaconda. (Sorry, that link starts a bit into it - but I can't figure out how to correct that. And I advise you to click the subtitles button if you don't speak the lingo!) As usual, too late in the evening for me to attend - but I'll just watch earlier.
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