Film: Incendies

Today, it was promised to rain. And so it did, chucking it down! Perfect day for the cinema then.. unfortunately, when I had cause to check my film list again last night, it had changed almost completely! New films, new times.. well, as long as it's as accurate as possible, I guess! So, top of the list for today was now Incendies, in which a brother and sister, who have grown up in Montréal and whose mother has just died, learn that she has instructed each of them to go in search of their father, whom they'd thought had died, and a brother they didn't know they had! In the Middle East. So this gives them a chance to explore the region, and their own roots.. Showing in the BFI only, and today was the last showing.. Interestingly, the BFI has moved to a first-come first-served, unallocated seating policy. Not sure what the advantage of that is, but the upshot is that I can't see how full a screen is, online! However, knowing how busy the BFI traditionally gets, I decided I'd better book, and I did.

I managed to get out early for once, sheltered with several others under a building outcrop while we waited for our buses. And waited.. and waited.. as the rain got heavier, bus after bus came, and none was mine, the #26 - the Buses Due app kept pushing back its projected arrival time until it had gone so late that it couldn't get me there. And the BFI doesn't admit latecomers, you know! So I ended up settling for the 344 - which I could have taken ages before, and would need a change. Well, at least now I was on the move. And wouldn't you know it, as I got off and rounded the corner, my next bus was taking on passengers! Sadly, the stop was a way off, and the driver wasn't paying attention - I was literally hurrying along the side when the door closed and it pulled off. Had to wait 20 minutes for the next one!

Well, it was only a short second journey, and I did actually make it - with just minutes to spare. Just as well, too, that I remembered that NFT3, where this was showing, is upstairs, through the door beside the sign for the mezzanine - it isn't signposted. I panted through there - if you have prebooked, you don't have to bother with the box office - and despite having been instructed to show the booking on my phone, I actually just had to give the lady my name, which she checked off a list. As she waved me in, she alerted me to the information fliers, in the holder to my left, which they provide for all their films, and which contain a critical review. Excellent, I didn't think they were doing paper copies any more!

And so, looking around, I identified a few empty seats in a row, where I decided to sit - it wasn't completely full, but mostly, and I'd probably have booked in advance anyway if I had known the number that finally came. Settling into my comfy, plush seat, I didn't have time to read more than half of the flier before the lights went down - and just as well, because he gives away the whole plot! Tsk.. A nice cool breeze wafted over us throughout. Anyway, lights down, and the message on the short introductory film was "Welcome Home"! Aww..

The Middle Eastern country in the film is never named - but events are based on the Lebanese Civil War, and it's filmed in Jordan. The brother isn't too keen at first - seems he wasn't as close to their mother, he thinks her funeral demands are OTT, and he wants nothing to do with any of it. The sister, however, is intrigued, and sets out to solve the mystery by travelling out there. Her story intersects with their mother's, as the scenes flit back and forth, and it can take a minute to figure out which we're dealing with. But my goodness, what's discovered is stunning, unexpected, and devastating - both on a personal level for this brother and sister, and also on a wider level, with what was happening in the country.

Absolutely compelling, sensitively told. Definitely, take a look if you get a chance.

Afterwards, I felt like food - wandering in the most likely direction, I plumped for Pizza Express. They had no problem seating me - and despite the poster we passed, with the massive QR code so you could register with Track n Trace, I wasn't asked to use it. Unlike its Irish equivalent, Cafe Milano, where I was in July. Also unlike there, I was automatically given a physical menu! So, I had garlic bread - and they really need to get with the concept of a starter, because I hadn't finished it before my pizza arrived. I was having the BBQ Burnt Ends, which my friend's fiancé had back in July, and which was so tasty when he shared it with us. And it was just as tasty now - but oh! impossible to finish. I left the very end, to squeeze in some rather good chocolate fudge cake (with a scoop of ice cream). Yum.. and really friendly service to boot. Highly recommend this place, if you're in the area. (A table just down from me had obviously also been to the same film, which they were discussing..)

Had to do some climbing, to get up onto the bridge, to catch a bus home. Funnily enough, there was no trouble getting a #26 this time..!

Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Shining City, a Conor McPherson play set in Dublin and showing in the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. Brendan Coyle plays a man haunted - he believes literally - by the ghost of his late wife, and the play takes the form of a series of psychiatric sessions that he attends. Well, this is an excellent playwright, so we're in safe hands. Someone's going for food beforehand, but I seriously doubt I'll be able to get there for that.