Film: After Life (1998)

Last night - film again! (Little enough on Meetup.) Of the films currently at the top of the list, I fancied After Life - a Japanese film (seems to be a Japanese week for me!) in which people who die are given a choice of selecting one memory to take with them into the afterlife. It's an old film, but has been getting showings in London for the last while - yesterday, only showing in the Rio.

It was an early showing, and I left a little later than intended. Happily, a bus came just as I arrived at the stop! Unhappily, it was lashing rain when I got off.. really a feature of this week. And I had a little way to walk to the cinema.

Got my ticket at the desk - it hadn't sold out, but mostly. The guy said, "You know where Screen 2 is, right?" Eh, no actually. Just as well he gave me directions - he pointed me in the right direction, and said to take the stairs down. If he hadn't, I don't think I'd have figured it out - signposting is very confusing. You end up in an unfinished basement, and find the screen by process of elimination.. inside, mind, it's got lovely, plush, wide leather seats, and I arrived just as the ads were ending. Perfect!

This is a very sweet and touching film. People - old and young - who have just died arrive at a kind of "halfway house", where they're each given a number and assigned to one of a number of counsellors. Each then has explained to them that they'll be there for a week, but only have three days to select one memory from their past life to take with them into eternity. The scenes are then recreated in a film studio, and screened on the seventh day - once each person has seen their memory recreated, they pass on.

Some folks find it harder than others to choose. Some refuse to do so, for one reason or another. It's fascinating to see how the (also dead) folks in the halfway house respond to the challenges of, firstly, helping folks to choose memories, and secondly, recreating them. But the loveliest part of the film, of course, is seeing which memories they choose. Highly recommended - the same director as the more recent Shoplifters, which was nominated in the foreign language category in this year's Oscars. Which probably has something to do with this revival of his works.

And yes, I did get another flat run in.

Tonight, back with London Literary Walks for a Hammersmith Walk. Ooh, and I finally got a locker! so I don't have to make a run home first with my laptop.

Tomorrow, back for our monthly social with ex-colleagues from my last company - this month, gee, you'll never guess.. someone suggested Japanese! :-) So we're off to Shoryu - upon seeing the menu, my boss remarked that it seemed very good value - particularly for Covent Garden! And then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. Interestingly, my new company has an extra "bank holiday" - they brought in an extra day off some years ago as a reward for people who'd worked hard on a release - and they kept it! So we have two bank holidays in a row. Which means I coincide with Ireland, which has a bank holiday the first Monday in June instead of the last one in May..!

Film: Amazing Grace

For today, mention was made last week of Ivan playing piano, at some bar or other. But a venue wasn't specified, and sure enough it didn't happen. Instead, I thought about cinema. Top of the list came Amazing Grace - a documentary about Aretha Franklin, who recorded an album of the same name before a live audience in a Baptist church, singing hymns from her youth. Apparently, she repeatedly blocked its release while she was still alive! I saw Mick Jagger, in the audience in the trailer.. Anyway, with both showings at the Curzon Bloomsbury sold out, I thought I'd better book when I saw availability at the Rio. I booked the matinee.

Walked up there, in intermittent pouring rain. Was early, and somewhat thirsty after my walk, so I treated myself to a rather excellent Hackney gelato, which they were selling behind the counter. And boy, few things have ever tasted so good! We were told the screen wasn't open quite yet, but eventually we just started to wander in. Seating was unassigned, and we waited.. and waited.. the program of ads eventually started 10 minutes past the scheduled time.

It's quite the tour de force, this film, shot over two nights of recording. Billed as a religious service, it's the liveliest I've ever seen! Both nights have Aretha giving her all in her inimitable way, but for my money, the second night was the night to be there - her dad showed up, and gave a speech - he was a Baptist minister himself. This was also the night that Mick Jagger showed up, among other notables. And just as entertaining as the performance - which reduced the resident pastor to tears - was the audience on screen, breaking into a frenzy at regular intervals. It was just lovely to see people moved to stand and move with the music, without some pillock telling them to sit down, they couldn't see! Mick was one of those so moved..

So, an interesting film, for a variety of reasons. Of course, with it starting late, I was out of the cinema late - but the buses served me well, and I was in good time to the estate agents' to pick up the keys to my new place! After walking to the flat and rearranging some furniture, I was starving, and fancied a Nando's - in that part of town, nothing is too far away, and I was very well fed indeed! Although I had a wait at the till, behind a group of kids, one of whose mothers had given him her card to buy food for them all, but the bill was too high for contactless, so he had to ring her for her PIN 'coz he'd lost the bit of paper with it written on. He didn't remember her phone number either, but had it written on his arm, mercifully.. Currently back at the old place, waiting for my flatmates to head out for the night, so I don't have to walk past them with a load of luggage, inspiring questions..

Well now. Tomorrow, I don't have anything booked, but was thinking of film again. If I do that, top of the list is The Samuel Project, showing in the Jewish Centre, JW3. It's about a Jewish teenager who has to do a school project, decides to interview his grandfather for it, and lo, finds out all about his wartime adventures. Trailer looks decent. Or I might just traipse back and forth, moving stuff..

On Monday, the Crick Crack Club is back at Soho Theatre with The Big Blind: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups.

On Tuesday, I'm back with North London Friends for the first time in months, at the Royal Court for Salt: A Journey to the Bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, an exploration of the old slave routes.

On Wednesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Man of La Mancha, starring Kelsey Grammer and Nicholas Lyndhurst, at the Coliseum. Being in the balcony as usual, I had to go in the very back row - can't handle those vertiginous stairs! Tickets a bit cheaper with WhatsOnStage. Mixed reviews for this - we shall see.

On Thursday, back at another Spooky London Paranormal Pub Meetup. This time, it's The Morpeth Arms. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On the 20th and 21st, it's UITCS again. On the 20th, we're going to Rosmersholm, by Ibsen, at the Duke of York's Theatre.

On the 21st, it's Our Town at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Hope the weather holds!

On the 22nd, back at last with London Literary Walks - whom I'm shamefully neglecting - for "The Second Westminster Walk".

And on the 23rd and 24th, back with UITCS. The 23rd, it's for The Starry Messenger, at Wyndham's, starring Matthew Broderick. I waited the longest time to book this, because I have theatre tokens, earned from posting photos to Seatplan, and every time I thought of booking it, I was either away from where my tokens were, or it was out of office hours - and they have to be booked by phone, generally. Well, I was to be glad I waited - they finally released really cheap front row seats in the stalls! (Restricted view, it's a tall stage.) And I was within arms' reach of my tokens, mid-afternoon. After being kept forever on hold, I was put through to someone who had to have everything spelled out for her, and emitted a big sigh when I told her I had a theatre token. So she had to log into that site. But it was all worth it, to get a ticket for £2.25..

And on the 24th, we're off to Jude, at Hampstead Theatre.

Film: Raw

Tonight, I had my usual placeholder of free comedy in Hammersmith - courtesy of Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Greenwich, and London Live Comedy. Of course - much like Funzing - I usually end up cancelling these, when something better comes up. And lo and behold, tonight I fancied going to a film. Spent all Wednesday doing the list, and at the end, would you believe, deleted something like 40 films from the top of the list, as not showing today! I do believe that cinemas believe that cinema audiences are quite conservative on Fridays, so they only serve up what they think will be most popular.

And so it was, with a leap in its ratings, that Raw came up tops, at 7.5 on IMDB - respectable for any film, phenomenal for a horror. It's been getting excellent reviews, so I really felt obliged to see it, as a lifelong horror fan. Plenty of stories about people fainting and puking at previews, needing medical attention - that, and the poster, suggested a blood-fest. Fine - I've seen worse (and read even worse than that - the written word always has the potential to be scarier, and gorier).

Showing widely last week, wouldn't you know, tonight its only showing was in the Rio, in Dalston. At 6. But that was ok, I could have made it in under an hour by bus. Unfortunately, as usual, I got caught up, and ended up having to take the fastest route, which ended up being quite convoluted. So - Northern Line to Warren Street, Victoria Line to Highbury & Islington, Overground to Dalston. (It occurred to me today that, for all the weeks I haven't had to use my Oyster card, I'm making up for it this fortnight - I'll have been using it every day..)

Google Maps wanted me to go to Leicester Square to catch the Northern Line, but I figured Tottenham Court Road was as close, and in the right direction! Went up there, hopped on the Northern Line, changed to a VERY crowded Victoria Line, where I had to get on sideways so I'd fit, and couldn't even reach a rail, having to steady myself by holding my hand against the roof of the carriage. I was glad that neither Tube journey was very long. Arriving in Highbury & Islington, I saw that I was just in time to have missed that Overground I should've caught - slight delays on the Tube - and the next wasn't due for 8 minutes. Figured I'd be faster on the bus (on which I also had to stand) - I probably wasn't. Anyway, I finally rocked up at the cinema at 6:15, and the man at the desk smiled, "Just in time!" (Thank goodness I wasn't headed to a play!) Seating was unallocated - there was hardly anyone there, actually - and I was in time to watch a couple of interesting trailers.

And so to the film. Well, it's French, and I believe it's the director's first feature. And as you might have heard in reviews, the subject is a young lady from a strictly vegetarian family, who begins veterinary school - where her sister has gone before her. Now, this gore that was mentioned need not really be feared - I suspect that those who fainted were of particularly gentle disposition. To be fair, there's a fair amount of red stuff - but there would be anyway, as they are veterinary students, and have some large animals to study. Including dissections.

Also, had I been a student at this school, I'd have quit fairly quickly, Honestly! Dorm raids in the middle of the night by guys in balaclavas, mattresses thrown from the windows, "rookies" doused in blood and forced to eat raw offal - WTF? Anyway, our hapless first year is dumped in the midst of all this, and forced to do as above. Has a peculiar reaction, though - both physical and psychological.

Don't be fooled, this is really clever. Remember, her sister has gone before her - and guess what? experienced some of the same. Also, their parents went through the same college. So everybody in the family experienced this.. And once you get done with considering that, try considering that this is allegorical. Now, that makes it quite clever indeed. Basically, it's a coming-of-age story.. and the final scene left me laughing in disbelief! Yes, this is a good film by anyone's assessment - recommended. Not too gory, if you have any experience of the same - although I did hear an audience member on the way out, on the phone to someone who'd seen it, and saying, "So you thought the worst bit was the raw chicken..?!"

And I managed to get a (single) bus home. Tomorrow, I'm off to see the Naked House Cleaner! Venue was revealed today.. ooh! And I see it's byob - well, if you insist!

On Sunday, I'm on a walk of Hampstead Village Highlights, with Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts. Be good exercise, leading up to my own sponsored walk in September, in aid of Cats Protection.. Helen and I are going as Dick Whittington and his cat. She's the cat.

On Monday, a summery treat! The Man with the Hat is taking both London for Less Than a Tenner and Let's Do London - for less! to the Globe (ah, it's been too long..). For one night only, the Comedy Store Players will regale us with Shakespeare-inspired improv. As usual, London for Less than a Tenner standing in the yard, Let's Do London - for less! in lower gallery seats. Which is where I go - couldn't take standing for that long. Better savour this trip - he only has four more events scheduled, three of which I'm going to, with no word on whether he'll continue longterm. And if he doesn't (Heaven forbid!), that'll leave a huge, hat-shaped hole in my life. Plenty of other stuff to go to, but hardly anything I'll look forward to as much as his events.

On Tuesday, London European Club (LEC) - it'll have been a while! They're off to an informal evening of classical music, in Peckham.

On Wednesday, London Literary Walks is doing the Sloane Ranger.

On Thursday, Helen and I are on an Underground treasure hunt, courtesy of Walk, Talks and Treasure Hunts. TFL goodies to be won, it seems.. Then back to Ireland for the bank holiday weekend - which I'd forgotten was a bank holiday, or I'd have stayed over an extra day!

Instead, for 1 May, I've booked The Ferryman, with London Dramatic Arts (LDAM), at the Royal Court.

On 2 May, London Speaks Sessions, LDN Talks @ Night, and London for a Tenner or Less have advertised a talk called Origin of Vampires: Fact or Fiction? Again, one I'm unlikely to cancel.

On 3 May, London Literary Walks is off around Gloucester Road.

On 4 May, Let's Do London - for less! is off on its last scheduled trip to the opera house - the occasion is Mayerling, my favourite ballet, and is sold out by now, I see. We have tickets in both slips and amphitheatre, as usual.

On 5 May, I'd bought a ticket to Nell Gwynn, at the Globe - then it turned out that LDAM is going on the same night! (Buy Your Own Ticket.) As the organiser said, it must be fate.. it'll certainly be nice to have company. Odd venue for them, though - I know the organiser doesn't like it.

And on 6 May, I'm joining the LEC for a classical concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Oh joy, they're playing Beethoven's 9th..

Films: Walkabout & Wake in Fright

Despite the glorious weather today, I took a train journey of 50 mins duration each way, to sit in the Rio, watching their Beyond Civilisation double bill, set in the Australian outback. Well, if I hadn't been that keen, I wouldn't have bothered - but these films - Walkabout (1971) and Wake in Fright - sounded excellent. Besides, I'd have been bored, just sitting in the sun for the afternoon..

I was lucky, firstly, that the Overground runs direct from just up the road from me, at West Brompton station, to Dalston Kingsland, just down the road from the Rio, as it happens. Not only is it handy not to have to change, but the Overground is cheaper than the Tube - particularly since I'd have to go through Zone 1 to get to the other side of town. Secondly, I was lucky, because not only were there no Tube trains running through West Brompton today, but neither were there Overground trains for much of the line (planned engineering works take place at weekends, to minimise disruption). Anyhow, I took my book with me - rather excellent, The Last Queen - I do recommend it - and between the outward and return journeys I got a lot of it read. The fare turned out to be £1.50 each way - rather good value for a 50-minute journey! I'd forgotten about the cheap fares on Sundays. I knew from Google Maps to turn left from the station, and within a few steps the cinema was actually in sight! Easy-peasy.

I'd been early enough to get the train before the one I needed to get - which is great, except that the cinema wasn't open yet when I got to it! So I hung around, trying to look as though I wasn't waiting for the doors to open.. there was a notice saying that it would open at 1.15, it was about 1.10 at this point (by my watch). They eventually opened at about 1.20. There's a café in the lobby, where you can buy your ticket if there's no-one in the ticket office. Handy, that café - I took advantage of the fact that they sold ice cream.. There only seems to be one screen, and the whole place is a bit scruffy, but the staff were friendly, and I liked it.

Stairs led to the balcony, but I knew from the website that that was closed today, and the guy who sold me my tickets (for both films, two for the price of one) and ice cream also told me where the entrance to the stalls was. I was, of course, the first in, and it took so long for anyone to join me that I seriously wondered whether I'd be the only one there! I wasn't, of course. Rather cramped toilets were located on either side of the screen. Nice comfy seats  - although a bit bum-numbing after a double-bill - and nice plush red curtains covering the screen, that opened when the film was due to start and drew closed after the credits finished. Oh, and another nice touch - no ads! So I didn't mind that each film started a bit later than advertised.

The first was Walkabout (1971) - a highly visual and quite moving piece that tells the tale of a teenage Jenny Agutter and her little brother, whose father is obviously having problems that aren't divulged. Anyway, he drives them into the outback for a picnic, then starts taking potshots at them. When he can't catch them, he torches the car and shoots himself. Which would be bad enough, except now the kids are alone in the desert, with no idea which way to go, and no decent provisions. They're in a bad way by the time they come across an Aboriginal lad on walkabout - the traditional initiation ceremony whereby a teenage boy heads off into the wilderness on his own, forced to fend for himself. He helps them.. and as he leads them back to the world they know, the film becomes a metaphor for the conflict between his world and the "civilised" one, of crowds, traffic, cities.. A memorable piece, the more so because I've always been fascinated by the outback - the idea of a vast expanse of desert, with, to paraphrase Bill Bryson, more things in it that can kill you than anywhere else on the planet.

We had a short break before the second film - Wake in Fright. Now there's a promising title! (Also known as Outback.) Also made in 1971, this is a slightly more conventional story, but no less striking. A young teacher - Gary Bond - faces the same problem as so many - the difficulty in finding a post. As he explains at one point in the film, he studied history and literature - but if your parents are nobody, what can you do but teach? The only way he could get a job was to become a bonded teacher with the Department of Education, which bond he has to work off - which means he has to work wherever they tell him. So he ends up in the back end of beyond, teaching what, I'm not quite sure, from the evidence of the opening scene, which has the class staring at him in silent boredom until he says they can go. How well behaved they were in those days..!

Well, if the first film was about the conflict between modern civilisation and the traditional way of life, you could say that this film was about the conflict between an idea of civilisation - or sophistication - and the hard-drinking, lowbrow, society of the miners of the outback. In the first film, civilisation pretty much won - in this one, it's not such a clear victor. This guy starts out as a tortured intellectual, thinking himself better than those around him, feeling he deserves greater things. He overnights in a rough mining town on his way on holiday - and after he comes into contact with the locals, including the slightly manic, alcoholic, local doctor, Donald Pleasence, things are never quite the same again as he's drawn ever more into their world. Memorable, truly.

I swung by the cemetery for a while on the way home..

 

 

Tomorrow's film is looking like, ahem, Godzilla again. That is, of course, providing that its IMDB rating doesn't slip again.. and providing that I'd rather do that than just head to the cemetery again!